Fate's Champion
by Granolabola911
Summary: While fighting in the Giant War, Percy thought he was going to lose Annabeth. She was his true love and without her, he would have shattered. Then Annabeth betrays him and he does exactly that. He shatters into a million pieces and now only has one goal in mind; revenge. But to get his revenge, he agrees to become the Champion of Fate.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is my story! Please enjoy it and please review and write a comment. It's awesome to read feedback!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

He was tired. Beyond tired. He had been fighting for hours and the end of the battle was still nowhere in sight.

He became a robot. Slashing. Stabbing. Ducking. Dodging. And yet he still only gained a few feet of ground.

He had fought every type of monster known to man. Hydras, Drakons, Empousai, Cyclopes, and even his old friend the Minotaur.

His body was covered in golden dust. Blood flowed freely on his cut up and bruised face. It left tracks of intricate red branches wherever it went.

He looked like a demon. Like a hurricane that reaped souls wherever he went.

He faced forward to a basilisk who was a bit wary after seeing its brothers become dust in the wind in mere seconds. It lasted 2.3 seconds before his footprints pressed into its pile of dust.

Now with his path clear of monsters, the warrior could see Her now. She stood proudly watching over her army.

His body surged with a new-found energy. The end was near, he could feel it coming.

He fought even harder, the closeness of Her death singing in his bones.

And after what felt like eons, he arrived at Her army's heart.

Percy Jackson was ready to face Her.

The Primordial.

Mother Earth.

Gaea.

* * *

Far across the battlefield, the other demigods wrecked havoc on the monster army.

Jason scorched dozens at a time with his lightning. The Manticore that dared approach him turned into a black stain on the ground right next to a heap of ash that used to be the Hydra that tried the exact same thing only seconds ago.

Piper was by his side, destroying the monsters that hadn't had their brains fried yet. She was… well, she was… beautiful, intoxicatingly so. She almost glowing like a star, an irresistible star that lured poor creatures to their deaths. The ones she didn't cut down with Katoptris she entranced with her charmspeak, persuading them to fall on their own swords.

Leo and Frank became a threatening pair too. Leo became a roaring fire so hot that his heat could be felt before he could even be seen. He transformed the monsters around him into walking bonfires that would scream try to run away from the flames only to find Frank who would tear them apart with whatever animal's claws he had.

The siblings of Hades were death incarnate. They had a legion of skeletons at their command slaying monsters left and right. Hazel pull gems and precious metals from the depths of the ground that she then molded into very expensive looking spears that struck down monsters by the dozens.

Nico became a shadow, seen in one place stabbing one monster and then suddenly ten feet away plunging his sword into the belly of another. He never stayed in one place for more than a few seconds, a vengeful ghost.

Annabeth and Reyna worked in tandem, a whirlwind of sharp biting metal. Each girl fought with a fury that would send even the strongest of people to their knees with fear.

Then Reyna noticed something… off…

It felt like she was having to chase the monsters around her instead of them attacking her themselves. It was almost as if they were avoiding her or…

And then there was something about Annabeth.

At first it was so subtle that Reyna thought it was just exhaustion tricking her eyes, but soon enough she noticed that some monsters simply threw themselves on her dagger.

It was strange. Why would the monsters let Annabeth kill them…

Reyna's head began to whirl with thoughts.

The nights Reyna she Annabeth tip toe out of her cabin. In the morning she would claim it was to get a midnight snack or a bathroom trip, but Reyna wasn't stupid. Midnight snacks didn't take hours to eat unless Annabeth was having midnight feasts.

She thought maybe Annabeth was going to sleep in Percy's cabin, but the next day Annabeth would have big purple circles under her eyes. There was no way she could have been sleeping, well unless she wasn't sleeping because she and her boyfriend were doing… uh… _that_.

But that was really very extremely unlikely. Coach Hedge's ears would have definitely picked that up right away and she would have seen their heads decorating the mess hall.

Then there was voices she heard up on deck at night, coincidentally every time Annabeth snuck out. It was always a woman's voice, deep and full of power.

Then it all started to make sense. Secret meetings, whispering voices, the monsters.

 _No. Not possible. Annabeth is her friend. She's Percy's girlfriend. She couldn't… she wouldn't, right?_

She needed to know the truth and if the truth was that Annabeth wasn't as friendly as Reyna thought her to be… well, Reyna would do anything to make sure her friends were safe.

Reyna needed to get Annabeth somewhere alone so they could talk without any distractions. She grabbed Annabeth's arm and pulled her away, running till they were hundreds of yards away.

"Reyna, where are we going? We need to protect the-hey that hurts! Let go!" Annabeth tore at Reyna's iron grip are her wrist. Reyna had to make sure that if things went south, Annabeth wouldn't be able to get away so easily. She hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"I need you to be honest with me, Annabeth," Reyna almost pleaded and then squeezed harder as if squeezing the girl's arm would force the truth out her mouth.

"Be honest about what? I have no idea-" Annabeth started.

"No idea why you're sneaking out at night? Or maybe you have no idea why the monsters seem to be giving you their necks?!" The more Reyna spoke, the more she realized that she was probably right and she felt sick to her stomach.

Reyna's hold tightened in anticipation for Annabeth to bolt, but instead Annabeth went still.

Reyna took it for guilt but no thoughts of failure crossed Annabeth's mind. Oh no, her mind was racing at a thousand miles per hour.

She quickly discarded her old plan and began anew. Reyna was smarter than Annabeth had thought.

Annabeth had cleaned up her tracks well, but the praetor had a wolf's nose. Oh well. She wouldn't mind creating one casualty after all, wars reeked of death anyway.

"Looks like the daughter of Bellona isn't as thick as I thought she was. What gave me away, Reyna?" Annabeth smirked.

"I heard you. Every night you would go out of your cabin and talk with someone. Looks like the daughter of Athena isn't as smart as I thought she was," Reyna shot with a jab of her own. How dare Annabeth put all her friends in danger. People Reyna cared for could have died because of Annabeth's two-facedness.

"You'll pay, Annabeth. The only reason I'm not killing you now is because Percy should be the one to deal with you." Annabeth flinched at Percy's name, but let Reyna continue and get distracted by her own anger.

Then oh so carefully, Annabeth's hand twitched to her side and slowly grasped the hilt of her dagger. The cool blade slid into her palm, ready to strike.

Reyna saw the flash of the bronze blade but had no time to dodge. She was too late.

Annabeth slid her dagger in through the plates of Reyna's Roman armor and whispered into her ear, "You're right, I guess I'm not as smart as I thought was."

Reyna gasped. "Percy will know. He'll know and he'll-"

"Not if I get to him first," she said confidently and then laughed, "I'll see you later, Praetor. Right now I've got somewhere to be," and with that Annabeth was gone.

Reyna was left alone only with her thoughts, a dagger, and a pool of blood. She had lost too much blood to stand so she sat crumpled up against a boulder.

The bleeding wasn't slowing. Reyna knew she wasn't going to make it, but she would die like a Roman. She fought valiantly on the battlefield; her ancestors would be proud.

She wished she could warn all the people that she left behind, but now all she could do was pray to the Gods that they did not suffer the same fate as her.

* * *

"The famous Perseus Jackson, Savior of Olympus. I feel honored that you've finally come to meet me," she taunted and gave him a vicious smile, "I hope you've come to surrender."

Percy shuddered and hesitated for a second. He would be fighting on of the most powerful beings on earth; He would be literally fighting _the earth._ Percy shook his heads, all thoughts of doubt pushed aside only leaving the cold and calculating mind of a warrior.

"Now why would I do that, lady?"

He did not wait for a response. Instead, he charged with his sword raised. He was not going to lose this fight. He couldn't.

He blocked her blows but with difficulty. The earlier battle had worn on him and although he still fought with terrifying skill, Gaea could tell he was almost at his limit.

If she was scared, she didn't show it. She matched every blow and strike and so did Percy. They were equal opponents. Neither could land a scratch on the other.

That is, until a certain blonde wisp, a flutter of a golden curl, caught Percy's eye. His eyes widened with recognition and while he was distracted, Gaea struck at his knees and knocked him to the ground and held her sword to his throat.

The moment the dirt and mud touched his body, it encompassed him like a cocoon. _Shit shit shit._ They had Annabeth and now he was losing the battle. All chance of even trying to save Annabeth slipping through his fingers the second he became prone to Gaea's element.

He fought with all the strength he had left but it was like being encased in concrete. He gave a roar of frustration and tried looking for Annabeth. He had to know if she was safe. Maybe he could distract Gaea so Annabeth could run, maybe he could trade himself-

Gaea drew blood at Percy's jugular stopping making his mind go numb. "I shall ask again, Perseus," she smirked, "Have you come to surrender?"

Percy stayed silent. He could feel the earth squeezing the air from his lung and his bone groaned under the pressure. Any more of it and he was sure his bones would snap. It was already becoming almost impossible to breath.

"It would be in your best interests, dear Perseus," Gaea signaled a cyclops to bring a prisoner forward with a quick flick of her fingers, "unless you would like to see your girlfriend die."

 _Annabeth._ She was covered in blood, too much blood. It dripped down her face and her clothes down to the ground creating puddles of red.

His breathing became too quick, turning into gasps. _Not possible not possible not possible. How did she get caught? She was supposed to be on the-_

"Surrender or she dies." Gaea's voice echoed in the back of his mind. _Which one which one which one._

His eyes moved wildly looking for a way out a way to _save her._ He could no longer think. _The war or her._ He couldn't talk. _The war or her._ He couldn't _breathe._ They had her. His wise girl. His-

"Which one, Perseus! Choose. Now!" Gaea demanded, her voice grating against ears. _The war or her the war or her the war or her-_

He knew deep inside that he had his answer, but he couldn't do this. The Gods, oh the Gods are going to _kill_ him if he does't die here first.

 _But Annabeth Annabeth Annabeth..._

Percy looked at Annabeth, at the blood flowing down her chin. His heart ached just looking at her in this state. In his heart he knew that he would give anything to keep her safe. It would always be her. He held the sky for her, and now would let it fall for her.

The gods would never forgive him and his world would crash down around him, but he would have her, his wise girl, and that was all he needed.

Percy looked up to Gaea, face now a mask trying to hide emotion and eyes fighting tears. He swallowed and began to speak, "I choose," his voice broke, "I choose her. I surrender," Percy looked up with tears streaming down his muddy cheeks, defeated, and Gaea smiled. She had won.

Gaea signaled for the cyclops to release Annabeth. He dropped her body, letting her fall to her hands and knees.

Percy felt the earth release its grip on his body and he wasted no time clawing his way out and running to Annabeth. He held her tight in his arms, kissing her forehead, crying and whispering apologies into her hair. Then as soon as he had gotten her in is arms again, he was ripped away. A pair of dracaenae held him down to the ground and again he felt the familiar roughness of the earth hold him down.

The dracaenae beat him. Throwing punches at his face, kicking his chest so hard, he felt his already weak ribs crack. They stomped on his legs and finally grabbed him by his hair and pulled him to face Gaea.

"What a lovely and heart wrenching reunion," Gaea cooed as she caressed his bloodied and bruised face with her hands, "but I never said you would live, only her." Percy caved in on himself. He had been tricked.

 _But Annabeth would live. She would be ok._ Percy could at least die knowing he died saving the girl he loved.

The snake women held him tight to the ground again and laid him before Gaea as she raised her sword up. Percy looked to Annabeth one last time with a look of something raw and pure; love.

Then to Gaea, his eyes though swollen, still cold and defiant.

"It has been a pleasure knowing you, Perseus Jackson," Gaea sneered. She raised her sword high, the tip gleaming hauntingly, but before she could swing her blade down on his neck, a silver arrow sprouted from her chest. And then more grew from the necks of the monsters holding him.

Percy wasted no time. He jumped to his feet and ignored the pain tugging at his entire body and brought out his sword. His ribs ached and he felt his splintered bones dig into his lungs. His other broken bones burned into his muscles, he would not fall. Not yet. Gaea had to pay.

Percy fought like no creature ever seen before. Vicious, merciless, and bloodthirsty. And even with the power to heal with the earth, Gaea wasn't quick enough to block the blows that kept lying towards her prone body.

Before she could rise to her feet again, a blade separated her head from her neck.

Percy collapsed to the ground. His chest flared with pain and burned like fire. Blood was leaking from his mouth. Soft hands soon embraced him. He tilted his head up and saw grey eyes. They shined and shimmered like silver. He had never seen Annabeth's eyes look so beautiful. He tried to speak to her, but only a series of gargles escaped his mouth.

He gave up on trying to speak to her and lost himself in her silver eyes, so wide and bright, it was like they were filled with millions of stars. He felt like he was half-asleep, like he was in a dream, unable to comprehend anything. He tried to fight the drowsiness, but the hands around him were so warm. He could feel their heat seep into his bones, mending them, and taking away the pain.

He didn't know Annabeth could heal people. _Maybe she learned a new trick_ Percy thought. It didn't bother him much though as he soon fell asleep.

* * *

 **Tada! Hope you liked it! Please review and write a comment!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! Here is Chapter Two! Hopefully you guys love this one too! Don't forget to review and leave a comment about what you think so far!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Percy collapsed to the ground. His chest flared with pain and burned like fire. Blood was leaking from his mouth. Soft hands soon embraced him. He tilted his head up and saw grey eyes. They shined and shimmered like silver. He had never seen Annabeth's eyes look so beautiful. He tried to speak to her, but only a series of gargles escaped his mouth._

 _He gave up on trying to speak to her and lost himself in her silver eyes, so wide and bright, it was like they were filled with millions of stars. He felt like he was half-asleep, like he was in a dream, unable to comprehend anything. He tried to fight the drowsiness, but the hands around him were so warm. He could feel their heat seep into his bones, mending them, and taking away the pain._

 _He didn't know Annabeth could heal people. Maybe she learned a new trick Percy thought. It didn't bother him much though as he soon fell asleep._

* * *

Percy woke up in a bed. _Where was he?_ He looked around the room, the walls were white, almost blinding, and medical tools surrounded him: a heart monitor, an IV, and various other machines that made weird beeping noises. _Infirmary. He was in an Infirmary;_

Percy looked down at his body looking for the wounds that he got fighting Gaea. He only saw smooth, tanned skin, all healed up. The were no longer any flares of pain in his chest. There wasn't even any scaring from the cuts that he got. He moved his arms and legs around, feeling for even the smallest tug of a broken bone, but he felt nothing.

He didn't remember how, but he was healed.

He looked to the side, and saw Jason sleeping in chair next to his bed. His head was bent down into his chest and soft snores escaped his mouth. He looked like he'd slept the night there. He was covered in a few bandages, but overall, he seemed fine, thank the gods.

"Ja-son, wakey wakey," Percy cooed like he was waking up a child. Jason's eyelashes fluttered and cracked open. He looked around in confusion, not remembering where he was.

"What, oh, mornin' Perce," Jason yawned and he stretched out.

"Nice to see you in one piece, man."

Jason smiled and laughed, "You think some of Gaea's lapdogs could take down this can of whoopass, Perce?" Percy laughed, but saw a nervous look flicker through Jason's face. His smile was tight, his laugh was forced. Something was wrong.

"Everything okay, Jace?"

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. It's just that-" Jason stopped and then let out a worried sigh, "We can't find Reyna. She was with us, but then... Maybe she got lost? Maybe she's hurt-" Percy cut him off.

"We'll find her. Don't worry, Jason. Reyna's a big girl. She can handle herself just fine," Percy answered confidently, but on the inside he was nervous. _If they got Annabeth, what's stopping them from getting to Reyna?_

Percy pushed those thoughts aside. He had to be strong, a leader, he couldn't show weakness. Not again.

Jason shook his head, "You're right. She's fine," he said as he looked up at the clock on the wall, "Oh shit, we gotta go. The party started ten minutes ago,"

"What party? Where are we going?"

"The party celebrating our victory, fishface. And we're the guests of honor. We're heroes, Perce," Jason replied with a grin, "Come on, we have to get to the Throne Room."

Jason pulled Percy out of his bed and both boys ran out of the Infirmary and towards the Throne Room.

* * *

Jason and Percy reached the Throne Room breathing heavily. Percy looked around in wonder. The room was the size of a gym and was filled with hundreds of people, gods, nymphs, satyrs, and many other things that Percy had no idea what they were. He quickly found Annabeth in the crowd and pulled her to his chest.

Annabeth flinched at the sudden movement and almost pulled her knife out. If Reyna had known about her, then what's stopping anyone else from finding out what she was. Annabeth had to stay on her guard for more overly curious people.

"You're okay!" Annabeth squealed trying to sound surprised before she kissed him. _Just a few more hours of this. He wasn't supposed to live, but she'd make do. By the end of the night, she'd be done acting._

Annabeth pulled away and forced herself to look worried, "I thought you were done for, Percy."

"You thought I was done for? I thought I was going to lose you, wise girl. And I almost did..." Percy paused, the memory making him shiver, "but now that's over. Now we can celebrate our victory," Percy said as he tried to look happier, but the thought of losing Annabeth was still fresh on his mind and now with Reyna missing, he worried even more.

"Hey, have you seen Reyna anywhere?" Percy asked.

Annabeth stiffened. Someone must have told him she had gone missing. Damn it.

"Oh, um... No, I haven't. Maybe she's somewhere here. Let's look for her," she lied smoothly. Reyna was nowhere near the Throne Room. Annabeth knew very well that Reyna was probably a cold corpse littering the battleground by now.

"Yeah, yeah let's look around," Percy said as Annabeth's lied flew right over his head.

They looked around for almost an hour. They went up and down the Throne Room almost asking each person in the room if they had seen their friend. And the entire time Percy made sure never to let go of Annabeth's hand. He was never letting go of her ever again.

His eyes scoured the faces of dozens of people, none of them were ever the Praetor he was looking for. He was about to check the patio for the fifth time but Annabeth stopped abruptly.

"Percy, we've been looking for her for an hour. She's probably resting or something," she said trying to comfort him. She needed him to stop running around. Her legs were getting tired and this was becoming annoying.

"No. I think something happened to her. Jason said she disappeared sometime before the battle ended. Maybe she's-" he was stopped by a kiss. All problems forgotten with just one of her kisses.

"Reyna's fine. I know she is. Don't worry yourself, we just won the war!" she said with a smile, but the inside she was raging.

Jason that fucking tool. With Percy worried over the stupid praetor, distracting him will take more effort. And Artemis, the man-hating bitch, of all the times she could have gotten over her man-phobia she had to choose this one. If she just kept on being the stuck-up prude that she was, Gaea would have won the war, Percy would be dead, and no one would give a fucking shit about where the fuck Reyna was because they'd all be fucking dead too and oh boy, Perseus Jackson is going to fucking _die_ tonight, a painful, horrible, agonizi-

"Hey, Annabeth," Percy waved his hand in front of her face bringing her back to reality, "You've been glaring at that pillar for almost a minute now. You okay?"

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired." She gave him a sweet, fake smile, "Let's go celebrate with the others," and she led him back to the party, smile on her face.

"Alright, wise girl," Percy placed a kiss on her forehead, "How do you feel about dancing? I can do a mean cha-cha slide."

Annabeth smiled tightly and nodded her head. _Just_ _a few more hours._

* * *

Hours later Annabeth was tired of dancing. She was itching to end this, to avenge Gaea. Instead she was wasting her time fucking around at this idiotic dance party. But being a daughter of Athena, she knew exactly what to do to speed things up.

She grabbed at Percy's arm and pulled him to her. She looked up at him through her eyelashes, "Hey, let's go somewhere else."

"Like where? I thought you loved dancing," Percy laughed. _Dimwit_. It was like speaking to a toddler.

"What I meant was, let's go somewhere _private_ so we can be _alone_ ," His eyes widened at that. He looked like a dog that was just given a bone.

"Oh. You mean, oh. Yeah sure, um, let's go," Percy stumbled over his words. It was actually quite endearing, but Annabeth still wanted to crush his skull.

She took his hand and dragged him across the dance floor and outside. When she first came to the Throne Room after the battle, she had seen a little gazebo hidden from prying eyes that would be a perfect place for her to execute her boyfr- I mean, plan.

They strolled along the little stone path that led to the gazebo holding hands. When they arrived she pushed him into the bench and sat in his lap. Everything was going to be perfect.

"Whoa, Annabeth, I didn't know you were that eage-" a kiss cut him off and he forgot what he was going to say.

Percy was in the Elysium. No, the Isles of the Blessed. They had won the war, his girlfriend was safe and alive, and even better she was kissing him right now.

He stopped, pulled away and looked into her eyes, "I love you, wise girl," he breathed, his face flushed and eyes twinkling like the sun on the sea.

"I love you too," the words felt like poison in her mouth, but she needed to wait. Just a little more.

Percy's eyes lit up even more. He kissed her cheeks, her forehead, nose. He kissed every single inch of her beautiful face except her lips. He would save the best for last.

As he tilted his head to touch his lips to hers he felt a coldness touch his neck. A knife was placed at his throat. The hairs on his neck rose. This wasn't right.

He looked up at her with confusion and reached to pull away her dagger.

"Annabeth what's going on-"

She swiftly bashed his temple with the hilt. He fell to the ground clutching his head. "Don't move and don't talk," she growled.

Percy groaned in pain. He couldn't understand what was happening. He looked up again.

"Annabeth, stop!" Percy tried to grab Riptide out of his pocket, but the second he had it in his hands, Annabeth knocked it away.

"I said don't talk!" she hit him again, this time his nose. The hit threw him to the ground and had caused blood to pour from his face like a fountain. At the sight of his blood she wanted more.

She hit him again and again. Percy tried to fight back, but he wasn't strong enough. Although he had been healed, not all his strength had returned. The battle had run him dry.

She kept hitting till his face was a bloody lump and her hands were dyed red.

Percy could do nothing to stop her. He could only watch through his swollen eyes as she pulled her dagger over his heart.

"Annabeth, please. I don't under-" she silenced him as she clawed him across his cheek.

"This is my revenge, Percy. You killed her. You killed Gaea and for that you will pay dearly!" Annabeth screamed with a crazed look in her eyes.

His confusion morphed into disbelief. She was a traitor. His beautiful girlfriend, his sweet wise girl that he almost sacrificed the world for was sentencing him to death because he killed Gaea.

He grabbed her wrists as she lowered the dagger slowly to his chest. He poured all of what was left his strength into keeping himself alive. "Annabeth, please, don't do this,"

He begged, but she didn't stop, only pushed harder. Percy's arms were shaking with exhaustion. He wouldn't last much longer.

"Oh and by the way, I killed Reyna," she whispered. He faltered, his arms buckling under her as he hesitated. _No. It can't be. Annabeth would never-_

The dagger was an inch away from his chest. Percy was starting to panic. "C-come on, wise girl, you love me, r-right?" Percy asked hoping she would come to her senses. He loved her and she loved him.

He'd held the sky for her, gone through Tartarus with her, _given up the world for her_. She loved him, right?

"That, like everything else I've ever done with you, is a lie," His hands lost their grip. _Lie lie lie lie lie-_

The dagger pierced his skin and he screamed.

"I never loved you," He froze, tears running down his face, mingling with his blood and creating red streaks on his cheeks.

The dagger stuck straight up from his chest. Blood pooled around him. Annabeth had broken his heart.

* * *

 **Well, there** **you go! Remember to review and leave a comment of your thoughts so far! Any piece of advice of constructive criticism is awesome!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again, here's good ol' Chapter 3! Hope you enjoy! Please review and leave a comment!**

* * *

 _The dagger pierced his skin and he screamed._

 _"I never loved you," He froze, tears running down his face, mingling with his blood and creating red streaks on his cheeks._

 _The dagger stuck straight up from his chest. Blood pooled around him. Annabeth had broken his heart._

* * *

"Someone help!"

A cry pierced the night followed by heaving sobs.

"Please! Oh gods, please. Somebody help me!" a woman's voice shattered the silence of the night, sounding like it was woven from pure despair and sadness.

The gods flashed to the source of the screams and froze at the sight before them.

A girl was on the ground, a boy in her embrace. It would have looked peaceful if there wasn't a dagger sunk deep into the boy's chest.

Serene if the pair weren't painted in blood and tears.

"What happened here?" a voice demanded, its owner's green eyes glued to the boy's own green eyes that stared up at the sky, not blinking.

The girl looked up at him, a fake screen of grief plastered on her face.

"Th-hey killed him. They killed Percy." she choked and let the tears she was holding back pour like rain down from her beautiful grey eyes.

* * *

 _Wake up._

He ignored the whispers in his mind. He would rather die than wake up.

Maybe he was already dead. She had stabbed him, hand't she?

 _Good_ he thought. He could haunt her for the rest of her miserable existence.

 _Wake up, Perseus._

 _Why?_ he wondered.

 _Because you need to. You weren't meant to die so soon, young hero._

So he _was_ dead. And apparently he wasn't supposed to be. Great.

He tried to fight it but this intrigued him. His curiosity got the better of him and he decided to obey the voices in his head. He opened his eyes.

He saw nothing. He was floating in utter blackness. It was so dark that he wasn't even sure if his eyes were open.

He blinked and still saw nothing. Then a spark flickered to life.

Way in the distance a light blossomed. And from it, one by one, three figures sprang into existence.

The first was a young child.

The second, a beautiful woman.

And lastly, the third, an old hag.

 _"We come to you with a deal, Perseus."_ the voices hummed. The deities glowed with power as they floated in front of him. Little wisps of light flowing off of them and fading into the darkness.

"What kind of deal? Who are you?" Percy questioned, untrustworthy of these strange beings that popped up from nothing.

 _"We are the Moirai. Goddesses of fate_ _and we offer you a deal you cannot resist."_

Percy tried to conceal his shock and slight terror. The Fates. _The_ Fates were standing before him. One wrong step, and they'd probably smite him where he stood-or floated I guess.

"And what would this so-called irresistible deal be, ladies?"

He cursed. Being a smartass to The Fates was not a good idea, but they didn't seem to notice.

 _"Rebirth. Revenge. A new life. Love. Glory. A second chance,"_ they purred.

His body stiffened. Ice ran down his spine as he heard that sweet word. _Revenge._

 _"All you must do is become our champion. A soldier of fate. The hand to bear down upon this world our divine will."_

 _A soldier._ Another war. Another battle. But he would get what he was starving for; revenge.

It would be worth it he decided. A smile graced his lips. "I'll do it."

All three women smiled a wicked grin and before he knew it, he was surrounded in a cloud of white wisps.

Light blinded his eyes, fire crawled through his veins and seared his skin. Everything hurt, but as soon as the light had circled around him, it was sucked away, dissolving back into the dark.

"What the hell was that!? I said 'I'd do it', not 'burn me alive'!" Percy yelled angrily. _Shit. I did it again. They're definitely going to strike me down now._

 _"We have given you the powers of Fate. You will not be able to use them now, but soon the time will come for the powers in you to awaken,"_

"What kinda powers. Did you grace me with the power to cut magic yarn?" _Fuck, I really need to stop that._

The Moirai glared at him, but didn't smite him where he stood.

 _"We will call for you when you are needed. For now you will live like this never happened. The time will soon come for you to remember. Until then, good luck, champion and watch your mouth." The Fates snickered._

"Wait no, not yet-" Percy begged, but they didn't listen and instead, blasted him back into the darkness.

* * *

"Who would have done this?", a voice demanded again, "Who killed my son!"

"I don't, I don't-" and she forced herself to sob. She was flawless. Her part of grieving girlfriend beautifully played.

She just needed to finish this last act and she would be free.

"It was probably the girl! After all she is a daughter of _Athena,"_ Poseidon took a step towards Annabeth but was blocked by a spear.

Poseidon brandished his trident and pointed it at the spear-wielder menacingly.

"Get out of my way, Athena! We all know you pass down your hate of the sea to your children. You could be her accomplice for all I know!"

"Poseidon, calm yourself. We must think of this logi-" a gasp cut Athena off.

All eyes turned to the body Annabeth was still cradling in her arms. It was breathing, or at least trying to.

Percy's lungs fought for air. His chest heaved and his mind swirled in confusion. _Why does it feel like I'm dying?_

He looked down and saw a knife stuck in his chest and nearly threw up. _Where did that come from?_

Percy looked around trying to find a familiar face and then he felt warm arms stiffen around him.

Someone was holding him. She was beautiful with her grey eyes and then he remembered _grey eyes. Annabeth. Traitor._

He heard voices. They yelled loudly about someone named Apollo.

He knew those voices. The gods were with him.

His eyes ran back and forth across their faces in a panic. He needed to tell them, to warn them about her, but his voice didn't work.

His words came out gurgled and broken. No one listened to him. They only yelled about Apollo.

Before he could try again, he felt a warmth touch him right over his heart. Then a painful tug that sent him into darkness once again.

* * *

This couldn't be happening. She had killed him. He was dead just a fucking minute ago. Without a pulse. Not breathing. _Dead._

She shoved a knife right into his chest. Right into his pathetic heart. That usually kills people, doesn't it?

He shouldn't be alive. It was fucking impossible.

Someone must have brought him back. That was the only way.

Her thoughts wandered. She wondered who it might be... No, she couldn't think about this now. She had a giant problem to deal with.

Her mind went back to Percy. When he woke up he would tell everyone what she really was.

Annabeth was panicking. _Shit shit shit._ Her hands were shaking. _She was done for. Dead meat._ She couldn't control her breathing. _Her plan was in_ _shambles._

What would the gods do to her? Torture her? Kill her? Send her to Tartarus?

No. She wouldn't let that happen.

She needed to leave. Now, before the dumb son of a bitch wakes up and sells her out.

Annabeth sprinted to her temporary room on the old Mt. Olympus. She threw everything she needed in her pack in minutes.

She snuck through the hallways of the palaces and once she was outside, she ran as fast as her feet would take her.

Soon the gods would know of her treachery and she needed to put as much distance as she could between them.

She vanished into the night like smoke in the wind.

* * *

She ran until the sun rose, only stopping to catch her breath for a few minutes. Scaling down a mountain was _not_ easy. The jagged rock had cut up her hands and her arms burned from climbing.

She ended up in a forest, an ancient one, with trees with trunks almost as wide and she was tall. Their branches groaned as a harsh uninviting wind flew through the forest.

It was like the trees knew what she had done and were already whispering to the gods of her whereabouts.

Annabeth sighed, she needed to keep running but she was exhausted. If kept going on like this, she was bound to pass out. Hopefully she had gotten far enough from the gods' reach.

Her legs were trembling with pain and fatigue. She needed somewhere to rest.

After wandering the forest, she found a cave hidden by some ancient oak trees. She could barely fit through the entrance and even inside it was small and damp. It was cramped and she had to keep her knees close to her chest, but it hid her from the outside.

She rummaged through her bag and pulled out some of the ambrosia and nectar. Her throat felt warm and her muscles relaxed as she ate and sipped. Then content wish being mostly healed, she fell asleep.

 _She was in an underground cavern. Giant crystals hung from the ceiling and earthen spikes guarded a pool of black water. The only source of light was the dim glow that came from the crystals above her._

 _Something pulled her to the pool. A feeling in her gut told her to go closer._

 _Annabeth climbed over the spikes and looked into the pool, black and slick like oil. It looked like it had no bottom, just an endless well in the ground. Her reflection gleamed on the surface until it rippled and churned until it wasn't her face staring back at her._

 _Another woman's face replaced Annabeth's. She had brown hair, muddy skin, and her eyes stayed closed._

 _"Gaea," she gasped, "How are you-"_

 _"Quiet, demigod. There isn't much time. Zeus has sent out a search party for you and they are drawing near," Gaea warned._

 _She cursed. She knew they'd be after her, but didn't think they'd come so_ _quickly._

 _"Listen, child. You must go back to Mt. Olympus-"_

 _"But-"_

 _"I know of your mistake," Gaea sneered, "But we will make it work for us. You must return. Do not worry about the gods. I will protect you."_

 _The water started to quiver and Gaea's face became warped and her voice grew fainter and fainter._

 _"Wait, Gaea! I don't understand!" Annabeth screamed desperately._

 _"You will soon. Now return to..." Gaea's face disappeared._

 _The cavern started to shake. Crystals fell from the ceiling and splashed into the pool. Debris filled the air. The cavern collapsed._

Annabeth woke with a gasp. She was sweating and her hands quivering.

She knew what she needed to do.

* * *

Percy felt pain. It was everywhere. Every part of him ached and screamed.

His chest was on fire. What happened? Was he hurt in a battle?

 _A battle_ he thought. Like the Battle of Olympus...

A rush of memories flooded his mind.

 _Gaea. Annabeth. Party. Gazebo. Dagger. Betrayal. Darkness._

He needed to warn them. Before she killed anyone else. He needed to wake up.

He opened his eyes. Sunlight poured into room he was in, so bright it felt like it was blinding him.

He looked around, eyes squinted. He saw two men by his bedside.

"Dad," he whispered.

"My son," Poseidon sighed in relief as he held Percy's head in his hands.

"You gave us a scare, Perce. You got your heart kabobed by a monster," Percy looked at the owner of the voice; Apollo.

 _Monster?_ He thought. That must be the story _she_ had told them.

"No, Annabeth," he choked out, "she-"

"Yeah, yeah, man. I'll get your lady," Apollo grinned as he started to step out of the room.

"No! No. Don't," Percy screamed. Something crossed his eyes that the gods had never seen before; pure fear.

"C'mon Perce," Apollo laughed, "She's probably worrying herself to death. Let me-"

"I don't want to see her. Ever again. She's a traitor." Percy growled. He hated her with all his being. If he saw her again, he'd probably rip her to shreds just like he did with Gaea.

"What do you mean, son? We've already found evidence that it was a minion of Gaea that tried to kill you," Poseidon assured him.

"No. It was her," his voice cracked and he glared back into Poseidon's eyes, "I swear on the Styx it was that bitch that tried to kill me." Thunder pounded in the sky.

The gods' eyes widened.

"Apollo! Go tell Zeus. Tell him to send out a search party." Poseidon ordered. He was fuming. _He had been right! It had been the wicked spawn of Athena!_

She must have known that Percy would tell them the truth once he woke up. She could be anywhere now.

Apollo flashed out and Poseidon was left alone with his son.

He glanced at Percy's face. Fresh tears ran down his cheeks, his anger and fear gone and instead, despair and sadness took its place.

"Why? Why would she do this? I loved her, dad," he looked to his father with wide, childlike eyes, looking for answers.

Poseidon didn't have any. He knew no more than Percy did about Annabeth's betrayal.

"I don't know, Percy, but we will find her. She will pay for what she did to you," promised Poseidon.

Then a lightening bolt crackled through the sky. Poseidon watched the sky and he knew what the bolt had meant.

"Zeus has called a meeting, I must go. Rest, my son," and with that, Poseidon flashed to the Throne Room.

* * *

"Father!" Apollo shouted, "We need to gather a search party, we have a traitor among us!"

"What do you mean Apollo? A traitor? Who?" Zeus demanded answers.

"The daughter of Athena, Annabeth. She tried to kill Percy Jackson."

A calm anger settled over Zeus, "I'll call a meeting. Send out a group of demigods to search the mountain for her. Bring her to me."

Apollo nodded and flashed away to round up the demigods.

Meanwhile, Zeus sent out a bolt of lightning into the sky for all the gods to see. A signal for a meeting.

In mere minutes the room was full. Every Olympian was present, even Hades and Hestia had come.

The room echoed with uneasy whispers and questions.

"Why has this meeting been called?" asked Demeter.

"What has happened, father?" wondered Artemis

Voices jumbled together. The room was chaos.

"Silence!" Zeus boomed, "We have a traitor in out midst!"

Gasps sounded across the room.

"Who?"

"Where is the snake!"

"Kill them!"

"Quiet!" thundered Zeus, "Annabeth Chase had betrayed us. She is the one that tried to kill Perseus Jackson. A search party of demigods has been sent out to find her. When she is captured we will decide what her punishment will be."

The gods were astonished. One of their heroes had betrayed them.

"Th-that's not possible. She can't. She wouldn't. It's not smart, not logical. She would know that," Athena murmured under her breath.

A hand squeezed her shoulder gently. "It'll be alright Athena. Annabeth must have a reason for doing this," Artemis said trying to console her sister.

"Yes. You're right. Everything will be fine,"

"They've found her!" someone shouted.

Everyone looked to where the voice came from but the god was gone.

"It seems the demigods have found Annabeth. Apollo has gone to bring her here," Zeus informed the gods, "We will give her a fair trial. Poseidon, fetch Percy. We will need him to testify."

"But he's still resting-" argued Poseidon.

"I said he will be needed for the trial. Bring him here, brother," Zeus hissed.

Poseidon relented and sent a glare Zeus's while he flashed out to grab his son.

* * *

When Poseidon arrived in Percy's room, Percy was fast asleep. He looked at his son, mesmerized by how at peace he looked in his sleep.

Poseidon hated to disturb him, but even so, he walked up to his son and gently woke him.

"Father, what are you doing here?" Percy mumbled, still half drowsy.

Poseidon didn't want to bring this news to his son. He had been through enough.

But Zeus had given him orders and he wouldn't dare defy the King of the Gods.

"You are needed in the Throne Room,"

"For what?" Percy looked skeptical.

Poseidon glanced at his son warily, "They've found Annabeth," Percy flinched, "They're giving her a trial. Zeus demanded you be there."

Percy became still. He would have to face her. He wasn't sure that when he saw her he'd either try to kill her or break down crying.

"Let me-," his voice strained and he tried again, "Let me get dressed," this time his voice was stronger, "I'll meet you in the Throne Room."

Poseidon nodded sadly and flashed out. He hoped his son would be alright.

* * *

Percy hurried to the Throne Room. It had taken him a while to get dressed.

Even though he was completely healed, he was still sore. From the battle and from the fight with _her._ All of it had taken a great toll on his body.

When he arrived at the doors of the Throne Room, he paused.

 _Would she be in there already? How would he act? How would she act? Would she be sorry?_

Questions and thoughts swam through his head.

His emotions went haywire.

He was angry, scared, sad, nervous... His hands started to tremble.

He was about to face the girl who had simultaneously broken and stabbed his heart.

Percy took a deep breath. He tightened his shaking hands and steeled his emotions.

With his head raised and jaw clenched, he opened the door an walked in.

The gods were all sitting in their thrones. They gave him pitied looks as if he were a kicked puppy.

He gave his father a grim smile and his eyes wander to the middle of the room.

A girl kneeled there. Her hands were bound tightly behind her back.

She was a mess. Covered in blood and dirt. Sticks and leaves were pinned in her hair like a crown.

The girl looked up. When she saw Percy, she smiled evilly.

Before anyone could stop him, Percy was on top of her.

Throwing punches at her, strangling her, clawing at her face.

He cursed at her, tears running down his face.

He asked her why she did this. Why she didn't love him. Why she had betrayed him.

And all she did in return was laugh.

* * *

 **I hope you liked this one just as much as you liked the last one! Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is chapter three and a fun fact; I wrote this in a car.**

 **Please enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review!**

* * *

 _Before anyone could stop him, Percy was on top of her._

 _Throwing punches at her, strangling her, clawing at her face._

 _He cursed at her, tears running down his face._

 _He asked her why she did this. Why she didn't love him. Why she had betrayed him._

 _And all she did in return was laugh._

* * *

They pulled him off of her eventually. He kicked and flailed, his blood singing with anger and revenge. He wanted to kill her and they were taking away his chance to do so.

The gods had to restrain him and even then he still pulled against his bindings, testing their strength, seeing if he could tear them apart.

Percy thought cruelly, _"Now they were both in shackles."_ He laughed. Yesterday they were happy, in love, celebrating, and now... Now he wanted to hold her throat in his hands and crush every one of her bones.

He looked up at Annebeth. Her face was unrecognizable. Blood ran from her nose and face. Her jaw was already turning blue. Percy smiled, he was the one who gave her that _lovely_ makeover.

"Apollo, heal her," commanded Zeus. Although the girl was a traitor, she needed to at least be able to talk to give the council her testimony.

Percy's face twisted in shock, "What?! You're going to _heal_ her? She-"

"Be quiet-" warned Zeus. The king of the gods was starting to lose his patience

"No! I will not! She's a traitorous bi-"

"I said quiet, demigod! If you do not shut your mouth, I will gag you myself!" Zeus threatened and Percy clamped his mouth shut. He didn't want to be zapped dead by a lightening bolt before he got his revenge. He would just needed to be patient.

Zeus sighed and rubbed his temples. He needed to control them otherwise they'd kill each other and while he'd love to see the Athena girl somewhat dead, he needed to play by the rules and have a fair trial.

"Apollo, heal the girl," Zeus said again. Apollo reluctantly rose from his seat and strode over to Annabeth. He placed his hands on her faces and the bruises and blemishes began to melt away.

This time nothing came from Percy's mouth, but his eyes were murderous. He glared at Annabeth hoping she could feel his pain, his betrayal, but she did nothing.

Once she was completely healed, Zeus spoke again.

"Now, we will have a fair and _civil_ trial. First Percy will speak, afterwards Annabeth will speak, and then the council will vote," Zeus looked around, "Understood?"

Murmurs of agreement sounded around the room.

"Alright. Percy, you may speak now."

Percy didn't even bother to tell them his entire story. He didn't want to and he didn't need to.

"I swear on the River Styx that Annabeth tried to kill me last night," he testified. Thunder clapped.

Nothing struck him down where he stood. He didn't die on the spot. Percy stayed perfectly alive. He was telling the truth.

The gods wondered how Annabeth would act. She was already guilty. No one could argue against the Styx.

Everyone looked to the girl but instead of crying or begging for mercy, she laughed like a madman.

"What's so funny, traitor?" Percy growled. He struggled against his chains. They squeaked against the pressure he was putting on them. Some gods were scared they would break, and although they knew it was impossible, but Percy was one of the strongest demigods they had ever seen.

"Oh, nothing," she laughed again, "It's just that you didn't even tell them the entire story!" A wicked glint shined in her grey eyes. They were no longer soft and light like rain clouds during storm. They were cold, hard, like steel.

"No. Don't you dare," Percy's hands itched to be around her throat. His irises started to glow a sickly green color.

The gods looked around nervously. Power was practically bleeding out Percy, what would happen if he got too angry? The chains around his hands groaned dangerously.

"Try and stop me, runt," Annabeth taunted and faced the gods, "The mighty Hero of Olympus; I say three words and he's utterly useless. He wasn't even fight off a weak little girl like me,"

"Be quiet," Percy hissed. His entire body was trembling with rage and soon, the ground began to tremble too.

"And even better he believed those three little words. Isn't that right, _seaweed brain,_ " Percy winced at the old nickname, "Hades, he still believes that I love him-" Percy's body seized and he pulled against the shackles as hard. They protested, but he could feel them fracturing and weakening against his sore wrists. _Just a little more and he'd be free to kill the bitch._

"What stupid, lovesick puppy would do that? Oh, right," Annabeth gave him a venomous smile, "You."

"I said shut up!" Percy roared and the chains shattered. He jumped to his feet and knocked Annabeth to the ground. They were a ball of black and blonde, scratching, clawing, punching. An earthquake shook the Throne Room violently.

He pinned her to the floor and mercilessly threw punches at her. Her once healed face changed back into the bloody lump it had been only minutes before.

Cracks spread across the floor and ceiling like a spider web. The earthquake was splintering the foundation of the Throne Room, slowly tearing it apart.

"You bitch! Don't you say another word," he snarled. Percy was a demon, power flowing off of him in waves, his body radiating a sickly green light.

The gods tried to reach him and pull him off, but the floor convulsed with such powerful tremors, it knocked the once all-powerful Olympians right on the ground.

"But I love you, Percy!" she crooned, not caring that she was being beaten mercilessly. Her goal was to get him as angry as possible. It was working. And before she could say another word, she received a swift blow to the face and something snapped. Maybe it was her nose. Percy hoped it was.

Annabeth grunted at the pain in her nose, but continued to mock Percy. She needed him angry enough to kill her. _I will come to you, Gaea. I will avenge you,_ Annabeth thought, _I will come to you in Tartarus and help you live again._

"Don't you love me back, s _eaweed brain_?" Percy's nostrils flared as she used his nickname again. It no longer sounded loving and cute. It only reminded him of what she had done and what he had lost.

He grabbed her neck and squeezed threateningly. Percy was seething with anger, "Stop talking or-"

"Or what? Kill me? Go ahead. I've gotten what I wanted. I _broke_ you. I killed one of your friends-" Percy tightened his grip around her throat.

"Stop," he hissed. She knew all of his weaknesses, every place to press to get the best reaction out of him.

"Shattered your heart, and stabbed you all in the same night," Annabeth croaked. Even as she was running out of air, she was still smiling. Percy's grip was so tight she could barely breathe anymore.

His entire body shook with rage, "I'm warning you-"

"What's better... is that you... _still_ love me. Who else... do I need to kill... to convince you that I... never loved you? Maybe... your precious cousin... Thalia, or your... parents, or may-" Percy's vision splintered and all he saw was red. _She would be long dead before she even got close to his family. Cold, unmoving, dead. And he would be the one to kill her._

He heard a man screaming, raw and painful. Next he heard a crack and then everything went silent.

His vision so returned and what he saw made his breath catch in his throat. Percy had Annabeth pinned to the ground, limp under his heavy body. His bloody hands were around her neck. He couldn't feel her breathing.

The anger on his face was replaced with a look of anguish. He didn't know what to feel anymore. He wanted her dead, but now… seeing her like this… he couldn't bear it. He had loved her for so long and dead inside, some part of him still did even after everything she had done to him.

 _No. No no no no no no. Not his wise girl. Not his girlfriend. She couldn't be dead._

Tears fell from Percy's eyes, clouding his vision. He took ragged breaths that barely escaped his lungs. Percy finally lost himself. He tried to be strong before, tried to hold in most of his sadness, but the dam had broken inside of him, shattered into a million pieces.

So, he wept for her. He cried rivers that leaked onto the floor that created small puddles. He mourned her. The girl who tried to kill him. The girl he loved.

 _She was right. After all she had done, he still loved her. Loved her with all of his broken and ruined heart._

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! Please don't forget to review! It doesn't have to be about a correction or anything like that! Tell what you thought about it! Did you cry? Did you laugh?**

 **Either way, PLEASE REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sooooooooo, here is Chapter Five. I hope you have been enjoying the story so far! If you have or even have not, still review and give me your input! I love reading what you guys think about it!**

 **With all that said, Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Tears fell from Percy's eyes, clouding his vision. He took ragged breaths that barely escaped his lungs. Percy finally lost himself. He tried to be strong before, tried to hold in most of his sadness, but the dam had broken inside of him, shattered into a million pieces._

 _So, he wept for her. He cried rivers that leaked onto the floor that created small puddles. He mourned her. The girl who tried to kill him. The girl he loved._

 _She was right. After all she had done, he still loved her. Loved her with all of his broken and ruined heart._

* * *

Percy woke up in a bed. He saw familiar white walls and bright lights. He was in the Infirmary again, for the third time.

He hoped this wouldn't be a reoccurring thing. He hated this place. It made him remember things he wished he would forget. _Reyna, dying, Annabeth._

Percy rubbed his eyes trying to shove those pictures out of mind. It wasn't working, so instead, he tried focusing on something else. Like how he even got here.

He tried pulling those memories from the back of his brain, but only fragments came up. His mind was tired from constantly having to replay his life. Lately it felt like every few hours he would be waking up and not remembering who or where he was.

 _The trial. Annabeth mocking him. His hands around her neck. Her body limp in his hands. Him losing it…_

His breath caught at the memory. He tried grabbing for more.

 _The gods pulling him off of her broken and bloody body. Him struggling with red-stained hands, trying to hold her for just a little more. His tears flooding his eyes as he sees them taking her, his wise girl, away._

 _Being picked up gently because his legs couldn't hold him up anymore. Someone who smelled like the sea carrying him through dimly lit hallways._

 _Strong arms and green eyes laying him down on a soft bed. A man murmuring something about his son and how much he loved him._

He was a mess after Anna- _she_ died. _Gods_ he laughed at himself cruelly, _he couldn't even say her name._

His father carried him like a child because he was too weak to use his own two legs. The grand Hero of Olympus was too pathetic to even function.

She was right, so very right. She broke him, she won. She left him in splinters and now he had to put himself back together.

Percy choked on a sob that was climbing up his throat. _No. No more. He wouldn't let her rule his life. She was dead. Gone. And he wouldn't let himself mourn the selfish bitch anymore than he already did._

Percy looked around at the white walls again. He needed to leave. To find somewhere he could clear his mind and recover on his own. This place brought back memories that were like shards of glass in his head. Camp Half-Blood would be no better either.

There would be friends there, people who knew both of them. He probably couldn't look at their faces without seeing her in them. Then there were her siblings. They were spitting images of her. _Long blonde curly hair, grey eyes, dazzling smile, his wise..._

Percy growled. He needed to stop thinking about _her._ It would make him crazy if kept going on like this. He would lose his mind if he kept loving her.

It was decided then. He would leave. Alone. And not come back until he was together again, not until he was whole.

* * *

 _Deep in the darkest pits of Tartarus..._

A body laid on the ground. It was a girl or at least resembled a girl. It was hard to tell with its swollen face and bruised body. Its-her nose was broken and purple. Her neck was a mirage of more purples and blues.

All in all, the girl was a mess and she wasn't moving either.

Another body laid next to hers. A woman. It was hard to tell which one had died a less brutal death. While the girl looked like she had been beaten to a pulp, the woman was literally in pieces.

Her head was separated from what was left of her slashed and torn up body. She looked like she used to be beautiful. Dark, rich skin, full lips, long wavy brown hair, but now she looked like she had gone through a blender.

Hours went by before much happened. The bodies laid there as if they were sleeping. But if you looked close enough, you could notice that inch by inch, the woman's head crawled towards her body.

The woman's skin was slowly stringing itself back together, and after a while, her body looked like new; unblemished, unhurt, flawless.

The eyes of the women opened cautiously, like she hadn't used them in millennia, and soon her green eyes squinted in the dark.

"Perfect," she purred. _Everything went according to plan._

The woman looked around and her eyes stopped on the bloody girl. A sneer formed on her face. _What a pathetic girl. At least she did this one thing right._

The woman would have loved to let the girl's body rot in this pit for decades, but she had a world to take over and this _pathetic girl_ was the best way of getting there.

So the woman walked over to her pathetic minion and laid her hands on the girls chest. The woman called on power hidden deep within her that hadn't been used for ages. It slithered through her veins like warm syrup and pooled at her hands.

The woman's power leaked into the girl and healed her like it did the woman. The girls throat started to become for skin colored, her nose fixed itself back into place, and the rest of her face became beautiful again.

When the healing was done, the woman took her hands off of the girl's body. She already felt drained. Not as warm as before, not as whole. She would have to watch how much power she used, she didn't have much left.

Seconds later, the girls eyes fluttered open, grey eyes calculating and cold, surveyed the area around her. They landed on the woman's face.

"Gaea," the girl gasped, her voice scratchy, "You're here."

"I told you not to fear the gods, didn't I?" the woman-Gaea said, "Now get up."

The words were harsh and the girl flinched, but she wasn't stupid so she didn't reply. She simply obeyed her master and rose to her feet. While she had been healed completely, she was still sore and stumbled. She tried to hide it, but Gaea had seen her weakness.

"You stupid girl. No wonder you failed so many times. You merely had to kill the boy!" belittled Gaea.

"It wasn't my fault, my lady. Something-someone brought him back-" the girl tried to argue.

"I don't care, _girl_. You have failed me, but I have forgiven you. Just hear my words, Annabeth, one more mistake, one more stupid failure, and I will make you suffer for eternity." Gaea looked Annabeth in the eyes, demanding obedience.

Annabeth shrunk back and nodded her head, "I understand, Lady Gaea. I won't fail you again." Her head hung low and ashamed.

Gaea scoffed and then smiled evilly, "Good. Now we must focus on other more important matters. I am here to find my brothers, but you, my dear girl, have another job."

Annabeth's eyes glinted with excitement, "What would you have me do, Lady?"

Gaea's face lit up with a terrifying glow, "You're going to visit New York City. Say hello to your boyfriend's parents for me, would you?"

* * *

 _Back on the old Mt. Olympus..._

Percy was a blur. He threw anything he could get his hands on into his pack. Clothes, toothpaste, bandages. He didn't know how long he'd be gone, but Hades, he was packing like he'd be away for years.

He got to his room five minutes ago and he was already worried about getting caught. Someone must have noticed him run down the hallways. He wasn't that quiet about it.

He threw one last thing in and then, _Done. Now I just have to find a way down this damn mountain._

Percy looked out of the window in his room. The view was not pretty. Rocks, cliffs, boulders, and ravines the entire way down. _No wonder she didn't get that far._ It was getting dark now too. _Climbing down that would be a bitch during the day, let alone at night._

Suddenly, an idea struck him. He smiled, _It would be a long shot, but Hades, it's be an awesome way to escape._

Percy put his fingers to his lip and blew the loudest taxi cab whistles ever known to man. It echoed through the Palace and if anyone hadn't known he was running away, well they knew now.

Percy waited, pacing back and forth, but still he saw nothing out the window, only clouds and rocks. He tried again, this whistle louder than the last. Then his room got a lot smaller as the space filled with a giant black dog.

Before he knew it, Percy was attacked by a ferocious and adorable hellhound that coated him in drool and hair.

"Hey Mrs. O'Leary, nice to see you too. Do you wanna go for a walk?"

Mrs. O'Leary wagged her tail in return and became even more excited to see her old friend.

"Yeah? You do? Alright, let's go!" Percy said as she knelt down to let him on her back. As he was climbing on, the dogs ears perked up.

Muffled voices sounded down the hallway. _The gods must have heard my whistles. We have to hurry._

Percy scrambled as quickly as he could onto her back almost falling off as he did so. Percy could hear the gods' footsteps right outside his door. He moved even quicker than before.

Once he was situated, pack and all, he said, "Okay, Mrs. O'Leary, time to go. C'mon, girl!" And with that, they were a shadow.

* * *

 _Somewhere at pub in Ireland..._

"N' I told me wife, and oh she was angry, I tell yeh, bahhaha!"

"Oi, Tommy! 'And me 'nother Guinness, would ya?"

"Why 'ello there, lass, why don't cha-"

A crash boomed throughout the pub. All anyone could see was a abnormally large Rottweiler and a teenage boy waving his hands around, trying to ride it.

"Shit shit shit shit! Mrs. O'Leary, I said somewhere in the middle of nowhere! Not a full bar!" the boy screamed.

"Oi, the fuck you doin', boy?" asked the bartender, "If you don't get outta here soon, I'm gonna get the cops!"

"Shit, sorry, man. We'll be on our-" and they were gone as quickly as they came.

The bar went silent. Broken glass littered the floor and spilled beer created multiple puddles.

"The fuck was that?" a man asked. After no answer and just a couple of shrugs, he continued to drink his Guinness.

* * *

The pair popped up again, but this time in a secluded meadow. The moon was out now and thousands of stars shone in the sky.

"Finally! You can't keep doing that, Mrs. O'Leary!" sighed Percy. It had taken them five tries to get to this clearing.

Their landing in the pub was probably the calmest one they've had. Before at that fancy restaurant in France, everyone had flipped shit. He still had a few bruises from the butter knives thrown at him.

Although they weren't that sharp, they hurt like a bitch when chucked at your head.

Percy rubbed his head and groaned at the memory. No use thinking about it anymore and hopefully it wouldn't happen again.

He faced Mrs. O'Leary who was happily digging a giant hole. Percy whistled to get her attention.

"Hey, girl! We'll crash here for tonight and tomorrow we'll see if we can make it home,"

Mrs. O'Leary wagged her tail in return and laid down next to him. Percy settled down beside her and fell asleep gazing at the stars.

 _Percy was in complete darkness. Frankly, he couldn't see shit. It didn't even seem like his eyes were even open._

 _"Hello? Anyone there?" Percy shouted, but no one answered. They only thing he could hear was his breathing and his feet scraping the ground._

 _He tried calling out again, but still no one answered. Percy started to get agitated. Whichever goddamn deity put him here sucked pegasus ass._

 _"Hey! Come on! Show yourself or at least let me have a nice dream! Hades, anything but this!"_

 _He started to flail his arms to see if he could find something, or at least thought his was. He could feel them moving around, but he still couldn't see them. He felt around, but nothing was there other than the floor._

 _He pounded the ground in anger and so quickly, he thought he just imagined it, a white wisp flew from his hand and faded into the dark._

 _He tried again and this time, a whirlwind of white wind rushed out of his hands. Percy covered his eyes from the bright light._

 _It flew around him like a hurricane and soon colors began to blend in with the wind, creating blurry images._

 _Percy peered into the blurry images and soon pictures whisked around his vision._

 _He saw two women in the dark, one with blonde hair and the other dark brown, wandering around, like they were trying to find something._

 _The view changed and soon Percy saw the same dark haired woman, but now he could see her beautiful grass green eyes. She was talking with a man who looked like he was molded from the night itself. The only color on him was his blood red eyes and sparkling white teeth._

 _The woman called him 'Erebus' and 'brother'._

 _The pictures changed again. They showed a battlefield now. Bodies were strewn everyone. Some wore purple shirts while other wore orange. They created mounds of flesh and in the middle of all of them was a man._

 _He had had windswept, black hair, glowing, tan skin, and for a moment he almost looked like Percy, but instead of sea-green eyes, this man had eyes that were full of greys, blacks, and whites that swirled together like tornadoes._

 _Blood dripped down from his head and fell to the ground. And at a second glance, Percy saw that it was not only his head, but the man's entire body._

 _It was covered in cuts, scratches, and bruises. He looked half dead, yet he stayed standing and… smiling… like he enjoyed this bloodbath._

 _The man suddenly looked directly into Percy's eyes like he could see him, like this was some vision that Percy was having. The man only uttered one word, but it still sent shivers down Percy's spine._

 _"Soon.."_

 _And with that Percy spiraled back into darkness, his white winds vanishing into the dark._

* * *

When two woke up, it the sun had just risen out from under the horizon. Wanting to get to New York City as soon as possible, they immediately started their trek. The trip actually went pretty well this time around. No impromptu restaurant trips or drinks at the pub.

Percy vaguely remembered his dream, but only could recall bits and pieces of it. He didn't know how he had made the white windy stuff appear and swirl around him or who he had seen images in the weird white wind.

The only vision he could clearly remember anyway was the strange bloody man on that battlefield. His off-putting smile, and freaky tornado eyes… _Ugh_ , it gave Percy goosebumps just imagining it.

Percy tried to ignore it so he wouldn't be distracted on his journey, but every so often it slipped through his consciousness.

Other than that they arrived safely. Once in New York City, Percy got off of Mrs. O'Leary's back and they walked to the nearest hotdog stand. Shadow traveling was very tedious and they were both starving. They walked along the streets and then Percy froze abruptly.

Across the sidewalk in a window's reflection he could see a man, _that_ man. He stood there smiling menacingly, ready for a fight.

Percy turned around erratically trying to find the man, but when he turned back to the window, the man was gone. All Percy saw now was himself.

He looked tired, rundown, sad, like he just someone he loved… Percy shook his head trying to shake the thoughts away. _Focus. Food. Hotdog stand._

They eventually found an open hotdog stand after walking another block. Percy got 20 hotdogs with five drachmas that he fished out from his pack. He only got a few weird looks, but he didn't mind. What did the mortals know about shadow traveling and hellhounds?

He gave Mrs. O'Leary 15 and shoved the rest in his mouth moaning at how good they tasted. It had been too long since he had had a good New York hotdog.

A few minutes later, both of them had ketchup and mustard all over their mouths and their stomachs were satisfied. Now all they needed was someplace to sleep. It was only three in the afternoon, but they were both exhausted from their journey.

Percy thought about visiting Camp Half-Blood, but decided against it. He didn't need anything reminding him of _her._

Then another idea popped into Percy's mind; _his mom's apartment._

Percy hadn't seen her in months. He didn't have the time to. He was too bust losing his memory and playing his part in another shitty prophecy.

He smiled. He really missed her and he couldn't wait to see her again.

Percy and Mrs. O'Leary walked towards Sally Jackson's apartment. Percy knew they way there by heart. Hades, he could have walked there blind folded.

He was beyond excited too. For the first time in months he'd see his mom and Paul too. But along with his excitement, he felt something else. He couldn't put his finger on what it was. Dread? Fear? Uneasiness?

Percy didn't know, but whatever it was, it got stronger with each step he took towards his mom's apartment. It put him on edge.

His entire body was tense, ready to attack at any moment. The hairs on the back of his neck raised, and his eyes flickered back and forth along the street.

By the time they were only a few blocks away, Percy's hands were shaking and his vision was getting blurry. His stomach was doing flips inside of him.

Mrs. O'Leary looked at him worriedly, at least as worried as a hellhound could look. It was like she could smell the waves of unease falling off of him.

It was getting cold outside as the sun was dropping. It had taken them a few hours to walk the long distance across New York to get to Sally's house and now it was around five or six.

The wind nipped at Percy, making him shiver, but he didn't feel cold. If anything he was hot, way too hot, and sweat was beading on his skin.

The pair was just about to cross the street when Percy felt a pain in his head. It started out slow, like a headache, but soon it was a red-hot fire poker being shoved in his brain.

Percy clutched his head in agony trying to make the pain go away or somehow make it lessen, but it didn't work. It only got worse and worse till Percy was screaming on his knees. His throat was being scraped raw.

His mind was overloaded with pain and his senses were going haywire. He could no longer see. Everything was black, just like his dream. He could hear his own screams, feel their vibrations in his chest.

The black started to morph into colors and images. He tried to focus on them and push away the pain. He caught glimpses of his parents, their broken door, blue cookies all over the ground, drowning in spilt milk and shards of glass. A girl with blonde hair, a bloody knife, and then nothing.

The pain was gone. Percy instantly jumped to his feet. _Were his parents in trouble? Was this girl attacking them?_

If they were, Percy needed to get them as fast as he could. He ran across the street and burst into the apartment complex. He hurdled countless stairs and soon he was at his front door.

His untouched, not broken, front door.

He rose a shaky hand to the door knob and slowly turned. The knob stopped. The door was locked. No one had broken in.

Percy put his fist on the door and carefully knocked on the wood. He heard shuffling on the other side, locks clicking, and soon the door opened.

A woman stood there. She was beautiful, brown hair, sparkling blue eyes. Sally Jackson, his mother.

She looked shocked beyond belief, looking Percy up and down. Immediately she embraced him, almost crying tears of joy. It had been so long since she had seen her son.

"Hey, Mom. It's nice to see you,"

"Praise the gods, you're safe! I've missed you so much, Percy!" Sally cried.

"I've missed you too, Mom," Percy looked around nervously, searching for any signs of danger, "Can I come in?"

"Yes! Sure, sure. Here I just made a batch or you favorite cookies." Sally led Percy inside and got him a glass of milk and a plate of warm cookies. They were dyed bright blue, just he liked them.

Percy's eyes wandered around his old home. "Where's Paul?" he asked.

"He's still at school. He said he had a bunch of papers to grade. They're reading Macbeth now,"

"Ooh, good luck to him," Percy laughed and grabbed a cookie. He took a bite and savored their chocolate goodness. _They were just like he remembered. Delicious._ "Thanks for the cookies, Mom, I really missed these-" his elbow hit the glass of milk.

He watched the glass fall as if were in slow motion. It shattered on the ground and sprayed milk and glass everywhere.

Percy started to apologize and get up to get a napkin, but in his rush, he knocked over the plate of cookies on the ground too. He had been in his house for not even ten minutes and he had already made a mess.

"I'm so sorry, Mom. Here let me..." Percy stared at the mess on the floor. It was just like his vision. The cookies, the milk, the glass. It couldn't be coincidence. But then why had the door-

"Percy?" Sally asked in a hushed tone. She looked worried. "Are you okay, honey?"

Percy looked up to him Mom, still slightly dazed, "Yeah... Yes, I'm fine. I'm fine."

Percy's faced twisted, the weird feeling was back again, sitting at the bottom of his stomach.

"It's just that I-" and then all Hades broke loose.

* * *

 **Boom, there it was, Chapter Five. Please review and tell me how you feel!**

 **Fun Fact: The man who was drinking Guinness at the pub's name is Harold. Or at least he sounds like a Harold.**


	6. Chapter 6

**NOW! I give you... Drum roll please *some type of drum sounds or at least some random banging***

 **CHAPTER SIX!**

 **Please enjoy and don't forget to review!**

* * *

 _"Percy?" Sally asked in a hushed tone. She looked worried. "Are you okay, honey?"_

 _Percy looked up to him Mom, still slightly dazed, "Yeah... Yes, I'm fine. I'm fine."_

 _Percy's faced twisted, the weird feeling was back again, sitting at the bottom of his stomach._

 _"It's just that I-" and then all Hades broke loose._

* * *

It all went before Percy just like his vision. The broken door, the cookies, the glass, _her._

 _She_ burst through their apartment, blonde hair everywhere, a killer glint in her eyes.

"Well, well, well. Baby boy's come home to visit dearest mommy," she laughed.

Percy couldn't believe his eyes. He saw the blonde hair in his vision, but he never imagined it would be _her._

 _It wasn't possible._ He had killed her, crushed the life out of her, yet she was standing before him, breathing, alive.

"You're- you're not supposed to be here." Percy's voice shook as he spoke. "You're dead. I-I killed you."

He wanted to jump up and hit her. He wanted to kill her all over again, but he was stuck to his spot, too shocked to move.

Annabeth paced back and forth around him like a tiger circling its prey, playing with it.

"Yes, you did and it hurt. A lot," she growled, "And now I'm here to return the favor."

An evil grin formed on her face and she turned to Sally. Percy's body shook with the urge to protect his mom, but he still couldn't move. He was utterly powerless, useless.

"No, Annabeth, leave her out of this, please," he begged.

Annabeth's grin only widened and she walked toward his mom. "It's been so long, Sally. I've missed you." Her words dripped with hate.

Sally looked surprised. _Why would her son kill his girlfriend? What had Annabeth done?_

 _"_ Oh, I see," Annabeth said smiling, "He didn't tell you,"

 _"_ Tell me what?" Sally looked at Percy, "What happened to you two?"

"I-Mom, she-she," Percy stumbled and then took a deep breath, "She betrayed me. She killed my friend. She killed _me_."

Sally's eyes widened in disbelief. Her poor baby boy. No wonder he looked so broken, so distant.

"Annabeth… How could you? Why?"

Annabeth's face turned into a sneer. "Because I wanted to and I'll do it all over again. Right here."

Before Sally could react, Annabeth was on top of her, pinning her to the ground.

Energy finally returned to Percy's bones and he leapt on to on Annabeth and ripped her away from his mother.

They tumbled across the floor, splashing in the milk and cookies on the ground. The glass cut their skin, but they ignored it, too focused on ripping each other's throats out.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you! I met Paul earlier!" Annabeth's face brightened with the hidden knowledge she would tear Percy apart with.

She opened her mouth again to speak, but instead she was hit in the head with a cookie tray.

"You're not going to distract me again, bitch," Percy growled while holding the tray he grabbed from the top of the oven.

Annabeth groped around her head. A bump was starting to form on her forehead and blood dripped down from her brow.

"You ass. It's rude to interrupt," Annabeth said as she tackled Percy again. She managed to get a blow in that sent Percy to the ground. His hands became strips on flesh, cut by the glass on the ground.

"I was going to say that Paul and I had a very nice chat," Sally gasped from the corner she was hiding in, "I thought he was going to meet me here, but I guess he got help up by a monster or two."

It hurt Percy to hear these words, _his stepfather was dead,_ but Annabeth was distracted telling her story and it gave him the chance to take Riptide out from his pocket.

While Annabeth was looking at Sally Percy lunged at her, swinging his blade.

It slashed Annabeth in the stomach and sent her blood splattering to the ground.

She screamed in pain, "What have I told you about interrupting?!" She was angry now. This was supposed to be quick job and now it was taking too long.

Annabeth whipped out her dagger and ran toward Sally. If she couldn't get a scratch on Percy, she'd get the next best thing.

Percy was expecting her to collapse in pain or least run to him to attack, but never did he think Annabeth would run the other way to his mom.

He tried to stop her, but he was a step behind, a second too late.

Annabeth's dagger hit Sally's shoulder and pulled a scream from her throat. She would have continued on, but cold metal was soon biting at the back of her neck, drawing blood.

"Put. The knife. Down." Percy was rattling with anger. He would have beheaded her right there had his mother not been there. He didn't want to look like a monster in front of her.

"Oh, you mean this old thing?" Annabeth motioned to the bloody dagger in her hand. Bloody dagger. _Bloody knife. The visions._

Percy's arm faltered and fear flashed in his eyes. The feeling, _that_ feeling, was coming back, crawling back into his head.

He tried to blink away the incoming pain, but it wasn't working. His mind was slowly splitting in half.

"You don't look so hot, _seaweed brain,"_ Annabeth smiled. Things were slightly challenging in the beginning, but she didn't think killing both of them would get this easy.

"Don't you touch her-aarghhh," Percy gasped in pain and dropped his blade to hold his head.

"Ha! Look at you! Pathetic! This is just my lucky day isn't it, Perce?" she snickered.

"Here, let me help you with that headache." Annabeth smashed the butt of her knife on his temple and knocked him unconscious. His eyes fluttered shut and the world was dark.

With Percy no longer a threat, Annabeth faced Sally again, brandishing her dagger.

She dragged the bloody blade across her face, leaving crisscrossing lines of red. "Now what am I going to do with you, Ms. Jackson?"

* * *

He was alone again. In the fucking dark _again._ His mom was with Annabeth _alone_ now. Without him. Without anything to fight with.

All because he couldn't control whatever this was, this vision crap. These headaches were going to get him killed. They were going to get other people killed. Because of that, he needed to get control of it. Practice it, become immune to it, he didn't even know what it was exactly or even where it came from.

Was it a power? A curse? He only knew that it started after he 'died' and was brought back. Maybe that was it... Maybe he was some kind of super zombie with super zombie death powers.

Well, no matter how he got them or where they came from, he was going to use them to get himself out of this dark shithole.

He tried pounding on the ground to get the white wind to show up like before. No white wisps brightened his darkness no matter how much he willed his hands to make them. He pounded until he was sure some of his fingers were broken, but nothing came from his hands, only pain.

Percy tried the other thing that brought him his powers; thinking of his visions. That meant his headaches, but he would suffer through a thousand more just to save his mom.

He focused on everything he had seen so far. The cookies on floor. The milk. The glass. He thought about them so hard he was sure they probably appeared right in front of him in the dark, but still no light came from him.

With no luck, he turned his mind to _her_ and her dagger. Thinking of that had to get him angry enough to get a few sparks of power out of him.

He spent minutes imagining her face, her hair, the dagger, _his mom's blood dripping from its sharp tip_ and still nothing happened. The darkness was unbreakable. The frustration Percy was feeling almost brought him to tears.

Every time he _didn't_ want these powers to appear, they did, but now when he actually wanted them, when he needed them to save his godsdamned mom... Nada. He wasn't getting shit.

"Just help me, please!" he yelled, begging, "Whoever you are just fucking help me!"

Percy was crying now, he tried to stop the tears, but they came down like a waterfall. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. He tried so hard his entire life. What had he done to anger the Fates?

"Damn it! Gods fucking damn it! What do you want from me?!"

What had he done to make them hate him so much? To make them take away everything and everyone he loved? To ruin his life?

Percy let out all of his sadness. He grieved Reyna. Paul. He cried for his mom. For not being able to protect her. He mourned the old memory of his girlfriend. What she used to be. He sobbed until he thought he had cried himself an ocean.

And then he opened his eyes. Puddles of stars surrounded him like diamonds on the ground. They burned like small fires and the longer he stared at him, the brighter they got.

They moved and merged together creating a small silver pond that swirled with hundreds of colors that turned into glimpses of pictures. His visions.

 _He did it._

He looked into the pool hoping it would show him something useful. Something he could use to wake up. To send Annabeth back to Tartarus where she belonged.

All the pool showed him was the man he had seen in his previous visions. Nothing showing him how to win against Annabeth. Nothing to get him out of this hell. His hope dropped again.

His 'powers' were shit. They were useless. He glared at the man in the puddle. Why couldn't he have the power that man did. It was practically pouring off him like sweat.

That man probably had no one to fear. His enemies most likely gave him one look and ran away in utter terror, hollering for their mothers. If Percy had that power he could protect the people he loved.

His mom would be safe. His friends would be alive. He wouldn't be such a _sobbing mess_.

He looked at the man in envy. Looked into his white eyes, getting pulled into them. Soon his eyes stung from looking into the vision so deeply.

Percy blinked to wipe away the dryness in his eyes, but they only stung more. They burned now, like they were on fire. He rubbed them, trying to stop the pain, but it only got worse.

He screamed in agony, shoving his palms into his face. _Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. MAKE IT STOP. MAKE IT STOP. MAKE. IT. STOP._

And it did. The pain slowly melted away, the only evidence that it was ever there was the slight soreness in his eyes.

Percy began to open his eyes, but the minute his lids were even open a sliver, whiteness seared his corneas. Everything around him was so bright, like it was made out of solid white light.

It was like staring at the sun, only this sun was a lot bigger, a lot brighter, and a lot more painful. Surprisingly, his eyes got used to it in a matter of seconds. He was in his mom's apartment.

It looked just like it did when he was knocked out. He was like a ghost, looking at his former life from above. A mess of cookies and milk on the ground, the cookie tray with a bloody dent in it, his body was slumped by the table in the dinning room, laying in a puddle of milk and glass, and then there was his mom...

She was in the corner of the dining room being held down by _her-_ Annabeth. Blood was everywhere. It dripped from Annabeth's hands. Ran down the edge of her dagger. It ran down his mom's shoulder. It was smeared all over Sally's beautiful face. It leaked from her stomach.

She was dying, but she was looking at him, his body that was lying useless on the ground. She looked at that boy with so much love. She was going to die because of him and yet she wanted to spend her last moments gazing upon her little sea prince.

Her sad eyes shook Percy to the core, filling him with lava. His veins burned with rage. His hands shook with anger. And before Percy knew it, it was like he was standing in the dining room with them.

His view was different now though. His clear eyesight turned fuzzy on the sides, the colors blending together. Everything was too bright. His blacks were now greys, his reds, pink. He looked around and his body was gone off the floor.

Percy heard gasps around him. Shock shone on Annabeth's face. He had done it. He was back and oh was he ready to kick some serious ass.

"How did you-how is that possible?" For the first time in a long time Annabeth was rendered speechless. _It just wasn't physically possible. She had dropped him like a sack of fucking potatoes five minutes ago! And his eyes, holy gods, his eyes were terrifying._

"Ready to be dragged back down to the deepest parts of Tartarus, _wise girl_?" Annabeth was backing up, almost running away from him. "Now now, don't worry. I'll make sure to leave you with some fun, furry, eight-legged friends."

Percy was grinning like a maniac now. He was _savoring_ this. He felt a steaming rush a power flow through his body and he _loved_ it.

"P-Percy, just think about this, okay? Just-just-"

"Just what?! C'mon oh wise daughter of Athena! Use your words!" He was scaring her. Annabeth was trembling with fear. _This_ _wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't the plan. She failed again. No no no no no no no._

Annabeth had moving so far back, that she had tripped over some shoes lying by a doorway. She fell flat on her ass and started to crawl away. She knew it was a lost cause, but she still pressed herself to the wall trying to run away or at least make herself look smaller, maybe disappear.

Percy loomed over her like a god of death. His sword, Riptide, hanging threateningly at his side. She held up her hands to block him, no, she held them up in mercy.

Percy laughed. Their roles had flipped. He was now the one scaring her shitless and he was thoroughly enjoying every second of it.

He knelt to the ground and held her in an almost lover-like embrace. It would have looked romantic had he not been choking her and pushing Riptide against her stomach.

He put his face close to hers, so close their cheeks touched, and he whispered breathily into her ear, "What's it feel like to be the weak one, Annabeth? To feel completely helpless?"

Annabeth had no response, she just whimpered in terror and soon wailed in pain as Percy started to drag Riptide along her body.

It was music to his ears. Silk on his skin. Wind in his hair. The smell of the ocean in his nose. His revenge tasted so sweet.

He wanted to drown in her screams as he slid his sharp blade down her cheek. He wanted to swim in her agony as he cut down her arms.

But something broke his bloodthirsty daze. It was a woman. She was crying. Yelling at him. Telling him to stop. He knew that voice. He tried to match a face to it, but nothing came across his mind.

 _Percy... Monster..._

It was like a banshee in his head. Its voice grating in his ears like metal against metal.

 _Percy, stop... you're hurting her..._

And he couldn't shake it off. He clawed at his head, trying to pull this voice out of his damn mind.

"Percy, stop!"

All at once, it was like his head had been pulled out of a tub of syrup. He could hear better, the grating was gone. His vision wasn't blurry anymore, he could see clearly.

His head turned to the origin of the voice. That sad crying voice.

It was his mom. It was his beautiful, dying mom, begging her baby boy to stop.

"Mom?" Percy's voice was ragged, breaking as it left his mouth. It sounded like he had been screaming for hours.

"What have you done? Look what you've done!" The begging and sadness was gone from his mother's voice. Replaced with fear, anger, sheer horror.

Percy looked around. Everywhere was red. It made him sick. The wall where he had just walked away from was the worst.

Bloody hand prints coated the floor, the wallpaper, the furniture. Annabeth's dead body laid there. Worse than he'd ever seen it before. It didn't even look human. It was just strip of flesh sown onto a skeleton.

He looked to his mom. She was pale, stark white against the red around her. Her hands were crimson. They were trying to hold her together, to stop her organs from pouring out on the dining room floor.

Percy rushed to her side and tried to help her, tried to help her stay alive, but she flinched and pushed him away.

"Don't touch me! Don't touch me you monster! Bring me my son back!"

"Mom-it's me. It's Percy-"

"No. My son doesn't have demon eyes. He doesn't torture people!" Percy motioned toward her. If he didn't help her soon, she'd die. He walked past a mirror and saw himself or at least he thought it was himself.

Blood was on every inch of his skin and his eyes, oh _his eyes._ They weren't the calming green of the sea, not even the poisonous green of a warrior. No, they were _that_ man's eyes. Pale, swirling with power and hate. _What happened to him?_

"Mom-mom, please. Let me help you-"

"I said don't touch me! I said... don't... touch..."

"Mom?" Percy's voice cracked, "H-hey Mom? Are you-are you still there, M-mom?"

He ran up to her side and this time she didn't stop him. Her eyes were still open, still scared and frightened. Scared and frightened of him.

Percy closed her eyes. He couldn't bear the thought of his mom dying thinking he was a monster.

With her eyes closed, Sally almost look happy.

Percy held her. He held her for hours, cradling her in his arms, smoothing her hair down with his bloodstained hands, humming a lullaby.

* * *

He held his mom until till dawn had come and the sun shone pink and orange in the sky. Then he cleaned the apartment up. He made it look like nothing had ever happened that night.

Percy wrapped his mom in blankets, covering her up. He laid her on top of their dining table and grabbed a bottle of alcohol that rested in their kitchen cabinet. Untouched since Gabe had lived there.

He drank half of it. He didn't know what it was, but it was bitter and it burned. It burned away at the edges of his sadness, making everything numb.

The other half he poured all over the apartment. The carpet, the kitchen counter, his mom.

He grabbed a box of matches and lit the corner the cloth encompassing his mom.

He walked out of the apartment.

He locked the door behind him.

Pulled the fire alarm.

And walked away.

Percy didn't know where he was going. He just kept walking.

He never looked behind him. Not even when he smelled smoke or when he saw firetrucks race down the street to his old home.

He walked until his feet were as numb as his mind and as bloody as his hands, but he never stopped.

His old life was gone now. Nothing but ashes in the wind.

And Percy would make sure he would never think of it, hear of it, or see it again.

* * *

 **Hope you liked it! It took me a few tries to get this exact draft out. There were a lot of other crappy versions of this chapter, but hopefully this was a good read for you!**

 **Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here is lucky lucky Chapter Seven! Review and comment and enjoy!**

* * *

 _Percy didn't know where he was going. He just kept walking._

 _He never looked behind him. Not even when he smelled smoke or when he saw firetrucks race down the street to his old home._

 _He walked until his feet were as numb as his mind and as bloody as his hands, but he never stopped._

 _His old life was gone now. Nothing but ashes in the wind._

 _And Percy would make sure he would never think of it, hear of it, or see it again._

* * *

 _The Olympian Throne Room on Old Mt. Olympus_

Poseidon walked into the Olympian Throne Room wondering what Zeus wanted. He saw Zeus brooding in his throne looking uncharacteristically messy and disheveled.

Zeus heard his brother step in and raised his head.

"Ah, hello, brother" Zeus greeted, "I called you here because of a recent incident in New York."

Zeus looked worriedly to Poseidon as he thought of how he would deliver this horrible news.

"Sally Jackson's apartment was attacked and set on fire. We found two bodies. I'm so sorry, brother."

Poseidon's face fell and his eyes became wet. _It couldn't be. Not Sally._

"Are you sure it was Sally? Who was the second body?" he asked.

"That we aren't sure of, but also earlier last night, your son went missing. He might have gone to visit her, but nothing is sure yet. Hades is already searching the Elysium for both of them." Zeus tried to comfort his brother, but his words had no effect on Poseidon.

 _Not only his son's mother, but his son could be dead now._

"How did this happen?" Poseidon forced out.

"We don't know. I have everyone that I can looking for answers. Hopefully Hades returns soon." And then as if he heard his name being called, Hades flashed into the Throne Room.

"Hello brothers," Hades said gravely, "I have the information you wanted Zeus."

Poseidon looked eagerly to Hades hoping that he would say that Sally and Percy were still alive.

"So what is it, Hades?" Poseidon asked.

"Sally-she... I found her in the Elysium, but Perseus... I didn't find him anywhere. He's still alive."

Poseidon choked. Sally was... gone... and his son was nowhere to be found. Did he even know what had happened to his mother? The poor boy had gone through so much in these past few days, in these past few years.

"We need to find him. We need to make sure he's okay," Poseidon declared.

"I agree, I'll call Artemis. She's always had knack for hunting down men," Zeus said. "Artemis!"

Artemis popped into the Throne Room, eager to please her father, "Yes, father?"

"I have a mission for you. Perseus Jackson has gone missing. You and your hunters are to find him and bring him back."

"Father, really? My hunters and I have many other better things to do that hunt down a boy that doesn't want to be found. He's probably holed up with a girl somewhere."

Zeus stared Artemis down. Even if Perseus wasn't in trouble, he needed to be found before Poseidon lost himself in his worry. "Please, Artemis. He might be in danger."

Artemis caved in. She would do it. Only because she hadn't had a good hunt in years. This would be fun.

"I'll do it."

* * *

Percy laid on the floor of a crappy motel room, sweating from a nightmare he just had. He didn't have anywhere else to go and was running low on money so here he was: The Mystic Mermaid Inn. Apparently they were famous for their water beds.

Or at least they used to be until his nightmare caused him to burst every single one on his floor. Now he was in a giant puddle.

He's been having nightmares ever since his mom... They were about his mom dying, him dying, Annabeth dying, Reyna dying... Just death in general. Thanatos definitely had it out for him because he was _plagued_ by death. It was everywhere he stepped.

Mrs. O'Leary was gone. Percy hadn't seen her since he arrived at his mom's apartment. Maybe she was scared of him too. Hell, _Percy_ was scared of himself. He was becoming that man he was seeing in his visions or at least like him.

That's probably what happens when you come back from the dead. You turn into a monster as punishment for cheating death.

Percy sighed and got up, he was starving. He didn't bother changing his clothes, put his shoes, on and went out the door, carefully locking it behind him.

He was about to take a right down the hallway then something pulled in his stomach. Percy ignored it and turned and the pull turned into a painful tug that almost sent Percy to his knees.

 _Shit. Not the visions again. Those nearly killed him last time._

Percy straightened himself and tried to keep going forward, but the pain go even worse until it felt like a sword in his stomach.

"Fine! I'll go left godsdamn it!" Percy backtracked and went down the hallway on the left.

"Happy now?" _These zombie powers were going to be the death of him._

He walked down the hallway and soon felt a tug in his insides again. Percy huffed through his nose, "I'm not a dog, you know," he said but he still followed where it pulled him.

After a few more times he ended up on the other side of the motel in front of a door to a room. The tugging sensation in his stomach becoming uncomfortable, but not painful.

Percy raised his hand to knock, but right as he started to lower his fist to the door, it swung open.

A young girl, about eight or nine, with curly, untamable red hair stood in the doorway. She looked like normal he guessed. She had on bright pink shorts and a light blue shirt with a picture of a jar of peanut butter hugging a jar of jelly that said 'It Was Fate'.

"Uh, hey, this might sound weird, but my stomach led me here," Percy said lamely. The girl's eyes lit up and she saw his face.

"Perseus Jackson," Percy's eyes widened at his name and he put his hand in his pocket to get Riptide. _How did this girl know him?_

 _"_ Yeah... How do you know me?" he asked, voice wary.

The girl acted like she didn't hear him, "You're really slow, you know? I thought you'd get here days ago."

"What?! No I'm- I'm not slow! What are you even-" Percy spluttered. _He was not slow. He wasn't._

"Come inside. You look hungry." And with that the girl skipped back into her room.

 _What the hell was that? He was hungry, but this girl was... odd. For all he knew she was some crazy monster who wanted to eat him._

"Come on, slowpoke!" Percy felt pain stab at his stomach and groaned. _I guess I don't have a choice._

He walked into the room and closed the door behind him. He looked around, the room was a lot bigger on the inside, but it was _messy_. There was some kind of string everywhere, hanging from the ceiling lights, covering the floor, and flowing off of any furniture in the room.

There were so many colors. He saw at least 15 different shades of blue. And they were also all different lengths. Some were only a few feet long while others seemed to never end. Percy reached out to touch one, but the girl's voice called from another room.

"Breakfast's ready!" Percy's hand stopped mid-motion. He would investigate more later.

Percy entered the room, a kitchen, that the girl's voice came from. The minute he entered he smelled waffles.

"Here, sit. I made you breakfast." The girl looked proud of herself with her arms crossed and chin tilted high.

Percy followed the girls orders and sat at the table in the middle of the kitchen. Before him was his breakfast: Eggo waffles drowned in syrup on a bumblebee Zoo Pal plate and to the side was a glass filled to the very brim with strawberry flavored milk.

"Oh, uh, thanks for the uh, delicious, breakfast," Percy said trying to not hurt the girl's feelings. He picked up his silverware and began to eat. It wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. All it needed was a touch of blue food coloring and it would be a four star breakfast.

Percy looked to the girl as he downed the last of his strawberry milk. She was busy braiding some random strings she found on the back of her chair.

"I'm Clotho by the way,"

Percy choked on his milk and coughed, spraying it all over the table. _Shit. Clotho?! The Clotho?!_

 _"_ What?! Like you're- you're _the_ Clotho? Like one-of-the-Fates-Clotho?" Percy asked wildly. He prayed to the gods she wasn't otherwise he was in deep pegasus shit.

"Yup," Clotho replied, popping the 'p'. _Oh gods, he was a dead man. Dead for real now._

"Oh, well I got to go. It was nice meeting you though," Percy stumbled over his words and bumped his knees on the table as he jerked up out of his seat. _He need to get the Hades out of this motel room before he was thrown into another prophecy or worse, smited._

He was nearly at the door before Clotho jumped in front of him. "No! You can't go yet! My sisters need to talk to you!" _Oh fuck no. He was not doing this. He had to leave now._

Percy moved faster trying to dodge around the girl and get to to the door. "Sorry Clotho, but I have um, plans later today so I gotta head out-"

"Please don't go! My sisters will so mad at me if you leave!" Clotho begged.

Percy looked at the girl who was supposedly an ancient deity. She looked near tears, genuinely upset that he was leaving.

"Pretty please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?" the girl sniffed as she looked up with puppy eyes the size of saucers.

Percy couldn't do it. He couldn't leave this girl. She had won him over. _I am such a loser. One pair of puppy dog eyes and I'm a pile of mush._

"Fine, I'll stay." Clotho's face brightened and she smiled widely.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll tell them you're here!"

Percy couldn't get another word in before Clotho ran off and left him standing alone, surrounded by string.

He prayed to the gods that he wouldn't regret this.

* * *

 **So... I'm back! Sorry about the wait. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There was a lot less crying in this one I hope. Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello, hello, hello! Here's Chapter 8! Please enjoy and don't forget to review!**

* * *

 _"Fine, I'll stay." Clotho's face brightened and she smiled widely._

 _"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll tell them you're here!"_

 _Percy couldn't get another word in before Clotho ran off and left him standing alone, surrounded by string._

 _He prayed to the gods that he wouldn't regret this._

* * *

Percy had been waiting for 15 minutes for Clotho to come back with her sisters, but they still were no-shows. He ended up entertaining himself by browsing the strings that were all across the motel room.

At this moment he was running a deep red string through his fingers that felt like the softest wool. It wasn't particularly long, about only 5 feet, and it felt almost warm to the touch.

If he calmed his senses enough, Percy swore that he could feel the string pulse beneath his fingers as if it had a heart beat. As he waited he took note of all the things that could be different from string to string.

First was color. There were more colors than in a Crayola crayon box. He counted at least 42 different shades of blue on the couch that he sat on.

Then there was length. Percy found strings that were merely little scraps, no longer than his pinky, but then there were others that would swirl around the room without an end to be found.

Third, the material, he noticed, was always different. There were strings that felt smooth and silky, soft and plush, and even rough like twine.

One of the weird things Percy realized is that he _always_ knew if he had touched the same string again. They each just _felt_ different, like they had something special about them that he could always recognize.

Percy looked at a clock that hung on the wall. Now it had been 19 minutes since Clotho had left. You'd think that one of the fates would be more punctual seeing that they knew the future and all.

Percy sat back and closed his eyes. He might as well take a nap if was going to be waiting this long. He tried to will his muscles to relax and for his mind to go blank, but the strings were keeping him awake. He didn't know how, but there was this power come off of them sparking like electricity on his skin.

He could even feel the red string that was still in his hands thump harder.

 _Thump._

 _Thump._

 _Thump._

 _Thump._

And maybe it was just him, but it felt like it was getting faster and faster.

 _Thump._ _Thump._ _Thump._ _Thump._

His heart began to beat at the same pace, like it was connected with the string.

 _Thump._ _Thump._ _Thump._ _Thump._

His breathing started to become too fast. His heart was beating like he was running and the worst was that he didn't know how to stop it.

 _Thump._ _Thump._ _Thump._ _Thump._

His heart _hurt_ now, like it was going to burst. Percy tried letting go of the string in his hand, but his fist clenched it like a lifeline, unable to let go.

 _Thump._ _Thump._ _Thump._ _Thump._

His vision started to become dark and fuzzy. _He was going to die from touching this stupid piece of string._ He could hear his heartbeat roar in his ears and his head pounded.

 _Thump thump thump thump._

The string in his hand felt like it was on fire. His hand was burning. Sweat poured down his neck and his muscles spasmed.

 _Thumpthumpthumpthump._

The string was ripped from his grasp and he could finally breath again. His vision returned and he saw a woman in front of him. She was beautiful, in a harsh kind of way.

Her face was all edges and no curves. Her steel eyes looked like they could run him through like a blade and her high cheekbones were the kind that were only found on royalty. Her hair was the deepest black, so black it looked like it sucked the light from the room and it contrasted against her pale, almost translucent skin.

"What do you think you're doing?! Stupid boy, do you want to _die_?!" she screamed waving the string he once had in his hands in front of his face.

Percy was in too much shock that his chest didn't explode to answer. Then he noticed an old women that stood hunched behind the younger woman. If this young woman was the night, then the old woman was the day.

He hair was a bright blonde, looking like it was woven from pure gold. Her eyes were a deep blue like the sky on a cloudless day and her skin was bronze and tanned as if she had lived her entire life under the sun.

She wasn't pretty by any standards, her face was a mess of wrinkles and her skin sagged, but she glowed with a different kind of beauty. One that seemed like it could fuel a thousand stars.

"Now, now, Lachesis, don't scare the boy to death. He's the one we've been waiting for. And hand that thread to me." Lachesis's face dawned with understanding for a moment until it was replaced again with a cold mask. She handed the old woman the string.

The old woman quickly pulled a pair of shears seemingly from nowhere and snipped the string in half like it was nothing significant.

Percy almost threw up. _If these people are who I think they are and these strings are... Holy shit, they just... A person just died... He had get out of here, now._

"Well, it was really swell meeting you all, but like I told Clotho, I've have these really important plans for later for this really important thing, so I better get going." Percy got up at rushed for the door. He was not go to stay one more minute with these crazy women.

What was he thinking staying here before? For gods' sake these were the women who condemned him to not _one_ prophecy, but _two major prophecies._

"But you promised! You can't just leave-" Percy had no time to see if Clotho was using her puppy dog eyes because the minute he ran through the doorway, he sprinted down the motel hallway to the nearest exit, not even bothering to go back to his room to get the rest of his things.

The three fates just stood in the doorway, faces crisscrossed with utter disbelief. The demigod just... ran away from fate in the literal and figurative sense.

Lachesis turned to face the older woman behind her.

"You just had to cut the thread in front of him, Atropos! And you're the one who told me not to scare him to death! He just about shit his pants when you pulled out those shears!"

"Oh buzzer off, Lachesis, if you had just hurried up, we wouldn't have had him waiting for us and touching the thread in the first place!"

"So it's _my_ fault now?! Somehow you always make everything about me, don't you, Atropos?"

" _I_ make everything about you? You're constantly grabbing for attention! No wonder mom liked me more!"

"Oh that is it!"

"Guys! Would you just shut the hell up!" The two women's voices died as they looked the Clotho who looked like she was about to burst at the seams. "While you guys are arguing, Perseus is running farther and farther away. If we want to talk to him, we need to catch him before he gets too far. Last time it took _days_ to find him."

"Fine," Lachesis snapped, "Let's go."

And with that, the Fates went up into smoke.

* * *

Percy was so done. That was the last time he ever ever _ever_ would try to talk with the Fates. They were harpy-shit crazy.

For all he knew, once the Fates had talked to him they could have grabbed his piece of yarn and sent him straight to Hades with one flick of their very scary scissors.

Once Percy had left the motel, he sprinted towards the nearest parking lot, jumped a car, and sped to the closest highway. He need to get as far away as possible from those freaky ladies.

 _Well, Clotho was nice I guess, but the other to. Hell no. His life would be complete if he got to never see those two again._

Percy shook his head. He had to stop thinking about them. They were probably chasing after him right now and he needed to focus on getting the hell away.

His hands tightened on the steering wheel. If he made it through this year alive and in one piece, it would be a miracle.

Percy sighed and turned on the radio. His hands brushed over different buttons until he found a good station. He went over to turn the volume up, but suddenly smoke filled the car.

His hand slipped and he cranked the volume up so loud, he thought his ear drums might bleed. And on top of that _he couldn't see shit._

"WHat the fuck is going on?!" Percy's arms jerked the steering wheel into place, hopefully moving the car forward and then his feet slammed on the brakes.

"Perseus watch out! I still don't have my seatbelt on!"

"Clotho?! What the hell are you doing here!" Percy could start to see bits of her flame colored hair in the passenger seat next to him through the smoke.

"We came to find you! You just ran off!"

"We? What do you mean we?" Immediately after he asked, all the smoke was blown away by some unnatural wind. In the back seat now, Percy could see Lachesis and Atropos. Lachesis raised her hand in a salute while Atropos waved at him kindly.

"Oh no. Oh _hell_ no. Get out of my car. Now." This was not happening. _How did they find him so quickly?_

"Excuse me? _Your_ car? Last time I checked, you stole this piece of junk from the motel parking lot. Really, Perseus? A Honda Odyssey? What, are you Odysseus now?" Lachesis sneered. _Gods, she was so fucking annoying._

"Semantics," Percy growled, "Now leave. I don't care what you're selling, I'm not buying." _Maybe it wasn't the best idea to order the Fates around, but he could crashed his car because of them!_

Clotho looked at him pleadingly, but he wasn't going to fall for that again. He had made up his mind and no matter what they said, either they were going to get out, or he would find another ride.

"C'mon, Perseus, it'll only take a little bit," Clotho begged.

"No. No, no, no, _no._ The first time I tried 'talking' with you, you took out your garden shears and _killed somebody._ Who does that in front of someone?!"

"Oh please, Perseus, like you haven't killed anything before." Lachesis said.

"Not with scissors, I haven't!" Percy screamed. "You guys are absolutely _crazy_! Do you know what kind of shit you put me through? I had to lead two Great Prophecies! Two! And I am not taking my chances again here. There is no way I am getting mixed into this!"

Percy huffed. They weren't going to sway him. He would stick his ground.

"Perseus, we really do need to talk to you," Atropos said softly, trying to calm the demigod down, "It's about the deal you made with us."

"Deal? What deal?" Percy asked harshly.

"You don't remember because we made you forget. If you just hear us out, we will answer all the questions you have."

 _Fuck, first Hera and now the Fates?! What other ancient beings were going to fuck with his memory?_

"And why did I make this deal in the first place? Why would I want to get involved with you?"

"Because you died," she replied.

Percy's hands fell off of the steering wheel and into his lap, his back slumped and he sat there dumbfounded.

 _Oh shit._

* * *

 **Well, there's that. Hope you liked it! Please leave a comment on what you thought about this chapter or the story so far!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here it is. This one took a bit to write, but nonetheless it's here. Hope you like it and don't forget to leave a review!**

* * *

 _"And why did I make this deal in the first place? Why would I want to get involved with you?"_

 _"Because you died," she replied._

 _Percy's hands fell off of the steering wheel and into his lap, his back slumped and he sat there dumbfounded._

 _Oh shit._

* * *

Percy's mind was blank. Lately, death had been a touchy topic. Too many people he loved were dead. He felt that for every corner he turned, he always managed to come upon a new tragedy.

He heard a raspy sound, was that him? His head was _pounding._ Ever since that night in Greece it seemed like his head was always pounding. Like some kind of warning or premonition or some other stupid shit. And it kept getting worse. More frequent. More painful. And these girls, these Fates, he swore they were making it worse.

At first it was just little pinpricks that made his eyes become dry when he looked at them. Then pins and needles that took over his arms and legs whenever he got too close to them. Now his entire body felt like it was spasming at their every word. Every breath they let loose was a cold unforgiving wind that he could somehow feel tear at his body.

He tried to hide it. He really did and he was doing fine before, but now the pounding, it was getting sharper and sharper and- He felt their eyes on him and he was thrown back into reality.

"No way," Percy's voice was thick in his throat, "My death has _nothing_ to do with you three and neither does me coming back. That was all Apollo, he-he's the one who healed me."

A small voice in Percy's head told him that he was lying to himself. That he knew even though Apollo was an Olympian, he didn't have the power to drag his soul back from the Underworld.

"Perseus, you know that's not true," Atropos said softly trying to soothe him.

"And I don't remember this because you made it so I wouldn't?" Percy asked skeptically, "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

 _They had to be tricking him. He couldn't have made a deal with them. He wouldn't. He would die before he became another god's soldier again. A slave to a new prophecy._

"I can show you. Take my hand, Perseus," Atropos said as she held her hand towards Percy. The closer her fingers inched, the deeper the pain wormed its way into his head. His eyes felt like they were going to burst from their sockets. Percy fought a groan.

Maybe if he took her hand all the pain would stop. His hand twitched forward, but then he stopped himself. He didn't want any of _this_ anymore. He wanted to be on his own. For a while. He didn't know what for. Maybe to heal or just for some kind of peace. And taking that hand would suck him back in, he knew it would.

"No," he croaked. He prayed that they didn't hear the tightness of his in his voice. He didn't need the Fates looking at him like some kicked puppy.

Lachesis huffed and her breath sent icicles that ripped down his spine, "Just give her your hand, idiot." Her words pushed against his mind, pulling at his arms, trying to make him grab Atropos's hand. Percy fought against the haze in his head and his muscles shook.

Lachesis lunged for Percy's hand but he swiftly pulled it out of her reach, but not before her finger brushed his wrist.

Percy's breathe hitched. His wrist burned. It _burned._ Like he had just been branded. So much for hiding his pain because this _hurt._

"Don't touch me," Percy panted his breaths getting more labored as he felt the heat spread up his arm, "Please don't-" Before he could finish his sentence, Lachesis had jumped to the front seat and was wrestling him, trying to take his hand.

His vision broke into pieces, his lungs burned either from the fire that lapped at his skin or the ragged breaths that weren't giving him enough oxygen. And now she was on top of him. Her weight crushed him, made his bones scrape against each other and his ribs moan in agony.

"Get _off_!" Percy's voice tore up his throat. _It was just like that night. She was on top of him, hitting, scratching, trying to sink a dagger in his heart._

He stopped breathing all together because his ribcage felt like it had caved in. Black spots glittered across his vision and made his head whirl. He heard faint voices in the back of his mind.

"Lachesis, get away from him! You're killing him!"

"Shut up, Clotho. If he doesn't want to take Atropos's hand, then I'll make him,"

 _Lachesis. Clotho. Atropos. The Fates- it wasn't her. He was safe._ Percy felt the heaviness that blocked his lungs lift and his vision started to string itself back together. Cool air seeped into his lungs, calming the fire on his skin.

Then pain flared in his hand.

"Got it!" a woman yelled and the string that had sown reality back together was slashed away.

 _The dagger was an inch away from his chest._

The air was sucked from his body and left him clawing at his throat.

 _The dagger pierced his skin._

He was thrown back into a painful darkness.

"You've done it now, Lachesis."

"Oh shut it, Clotho."

* * *

Everything was dark. Again. You'd think that complete darkness would be nice and cool. Like the shadows cast down by clouds that give you a moment of relief from a scorching summer sun or hidden caves deep within a mountain that have stone floors slick with water from an underground river.

It's not. It's walking barefoot on a steaming sidewalk, car seat belts that leave brands on your skin, and completely _not_ fun.

On his hands and knees, Percy felt at the ground expecting hard, unforgiving rock like the last few times he had been here, but instead he felt soft sand. So soft it would have felt like being on a cloud if not for it being so hot that it felt like it was close to melting his skin off.

He tried standing, but his legs shook and collapsed beneath him. Even sitting up straight was a battle of his strength, so he laid down. He let the sand sear the feeling from his body and let it leave him perfectly numb.

Percy was too tired for tears. The events of the past few weeks, the war, dying, his mom, had sucked him dry. He had tried so hard to piece himself back together every time, but he was too broken now, too tired.

He closed his eyes. Percy needed to sleep for days, for years, for millennia. For as long as he would need to lose himself in his dreams.

So he lost himself in the darkness. Let it bury him, smother him, and wash away the little light he had left inside of him. He couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything, couldn't feel anything. He let the darkness bathe him and take away his senses, leaving him wonderfully empty.

He didn't know how long he had laid there, but he soon he forgot his name. Then he forgot how he even got here. Then he forgot where _here_ even was. He was lost, swirling in black, letting it drown him.

* * *

 _Down in the deepest pits of Tartarus..._

She hurt everywhere. Her little adventure to New York had been successful more or less. It was supposed to end in his death, and she failed. Again. Gaea would be angry, she knew that of course, but hopefully she created enough waves to eventually ruin Percy's life. His family was dead, so surely Percy would go into complete and udder mayhem and off himself in the matter of no time. The grief and sadness would crush him like a flea. Hopefully.

She couldn't risk another failure. Gaea would kill her and she wouldn't come back this time. It would be much more permanent. Annabeth shuddered. _It would be extremely painful. What Percy did would feel like a blessing._

But that wouldn't happen, Annabeth reassured herself. Percy was done for.

Oh Hades, he better be for all the trouble she had gone through. Percy had turned into something that looked like it belonged in nightmare. The look that was on his face was utterly terrifying. Like nothing she had ever seen before.

His eyes were the worst... they weren't _his_ eyes. If she were honest with herself she would admit that the son of Poseidon was the worst looking boy she'd ever met. Let's just say it wasn't _that_ horrible to have to kiss him while pretending to love him. And if she were to be honest again, his eyes were the most not-worst thing about him. Then something changed him. Someone had given him something that gave him this... ability...

She had to figure out who, her inhuman smarts _needed_ to know. _It had to be a very powerful god. Maybe not even a god, a titan or... holy gods. A primordial_ but first she needed to fill Gaea in about her mission.

She ran through the rough landscape of Tartarus, sometimes averting her eyes from lying bodies that were most likely corpses create by ancient monsters. She ran faster so that she could reach Gaea quicker and also partly so she wouldn't get caught just like those bodies.

She made it to the spot where she split from Gaea before she went topside. She was to meet Gaea her after she had finished. Hopefully her master was done her mission too and was there already.

Annabeth was close. She could feel the thrumming of power coming from their meeting spot. Gaea must already be there. Annabeth pushed her legs into a sprint. Her lady would be angry if she didn't show her haste.

"You're slow, Annabeth," she heard Gaea say, but she couldn't see her, only blackness. She spun looking for her master, the hairs on her neck rising. She felt something dark, something unearthly near her. It unsettled her to her core, making the frail human part of her quiver, ready to flee.

"So this is the pretty doll you have doing your dirty work, sister?" a deep inky voice rumbled. Annabeth realized she was trembling. The voice promised death and suffering and she didn't want to be anywhere near it.

"Wh-who's there?" Annabeth choked out. She couldn't stop the panic from rising in her. This ancient being was calling to a primal instinct deep within her to run away. She felt the predatory haze it gave off, it suffocated her.

Inky whorls were thrown around her. They pulled at her arms and legs and Annabeth let loose a scream. She tried to escape their hold but they held tight, dragging her deeper into the black.

Then passing through the darkness like walking through wall a fog, she was inside. Surprisingly, it was well lit inside the dark bubble. Annabeth looked down at her body. The black tendrils were gone. Only red marks where they had held her were left.

Annabeth looked up and saw two beings. One the recognizable figure of her master, Lady Gaea, but the other was on she had never seen before. It was a man with inky black skin that feed off the little light that was near him. And his eyes, they were as horrible as Percy's had been. Blood red irises were the only color in them, the rest completely black just like his skin.

It was even difficult to seen if he was wearing clothes, his body so dark that her eyes ached from looking at him. The only thing that showed more color was the white of his teeth. They were the opposite of his skin. The let loose a blinding light, shining like miniature stars.

He moved towards her without a sound, like he was floating. Annabeth's breath caught in her throat in fear as he stopped less than a foot away from her. She could feel strips of darkness lash at her skin. The man reached out and twirled his fingers through her curls and leaned his nose down to her neck, grazing her skin.

"Hello, love," he whispered into her ear, his voice terrifying even though he spoke softly. She could feel his breath breeze across her ear.

"I am Erebus."

* * *

He must have been floating away for centuries. Drifting into an abyss of nothingness. No worry, no pain, but also no warmth, no comfort.

He was inside a paradox, inside a place between somewhere and nowhere, a place so infinite that was both the beginning and the end of whatever it was.

 _Perseus._

That name sounded familiar, Perseus. He thought of how he used to know a someone with that name. Well maybe he did once. A long time ago though because now, he no longer knew anything.

 _Perseus, are you ready?_

Ready? Ready for what? Was he nearing the end of this endless fall? He didn't know. He didn't know anything.

 _Forgive us, Perseus._

Forgiveness. He once knew about forgiveness, but something had happened to him because he longer could find it inside of himself. Had he lost it? Or maybe he never had forgiveness to begin with. He didn't know, he only knew about nothingness.

A sense of tightness spread across his body. A feeling of confusion trickled into his mind. He wasn't supposed to feel anything. The tightness wrapped around his muscles making his body respond with a great stretch.

His skin skated across grainy sand. Sand. He could feel sand. His fingers ran across the tiny grains, tingling with the new sensation making his mind light up with excitement. He _felt_ the ground beneath him. He couldn't remember the last time he _felt_ something.

He opened his eyes to a dimly lit world. The light was warm, yellow and orange, like the few minutes before dawn where the sun was still far below the horizon.

He got the sudden urge to get up, to walk, to run. So he did. His legs shook, but held his weight. He smiled, almost laughing at how strange it felt to tug at the muscles in his face.

He felt free. Almost like he felt while floating in nothing, but now he could enjoy being unburdened. A warm wind blew through his hair, feeling like satin on his face. Sand was thrown up with every step he took, leaving a small cloud of dust in his wake.

He ran till came across a stone monument. Large rock pillars created a circle around a small pool that shone gold in the dim light. He wove through the pillars and kneeled at the pool.

He didn't know what it was, but something tugged at his stomach, drawing to closer to the pool, making him look into it.

He saw his reflection. Black disheveled hair, warm tan skin, a handsome face, and his eyes. White irises that could only be separated from his corneas by rings of black.

His head swirled with flickers of memories. That wasn't right. He had green eyes, green like the sea. A dam in his mind broke, letting an ocean of memories flood him. They were supposed to be green like his father's, Poseidon, because he was a demigod, because he fought in wars, because he was betrayed, because he _died,_ because he-

He made a deal. A deal with the Fates. He remember the fire that had crawled through his vein, the white light that had flown around him, and the surge of power he felt before he was thrown back into darkness.

He made a deal and his eyes were a reminder of what he had done, the freedom he had lost, and the power he gained. He was now blessed by the Fates. The power that flows through his veins now was unmeasurable.

His body hummed as in reply to his thoughts of power. His fingertips tingled and he looked down to his hands. A sharp intake of air went up his nose. Small white flames licked at his hands, glowing brightly like a real fire, but giving off no heat.

"We will teach you how to control your powers. How to mold them into a great weapon."

He quickly spun around at the sound of the voice. It was a woman. She was beautiful, but she also had a darkness about her, as if her good looks were as deadly as a knife. They probably were. He knew her, but he couldn't recall her name.

"Hello, Perseus," the woman spoke, "Do you remember now?"

That was his name. _Perseus. Perseus Jackson. Percy. Perce. Kelp Head. Seaweed Br-_ He stiffened. He didn't know why, maybe he just didn't remember why, but he didn't like that name. No he _hated_ it. Loathed it. Couldn't stand-

"Perseus, calm down" the woman said sternly again looking worriedly at him. He looked down at himself. The white flames had spread from his hands to across his entire arms and the fire was no longer just flickering. It hissed and burned brighter than before. It had gotten bigger.

He looked up to the woman's face with panicked eyes that begged for help.

"It's alright, Perseus. You will learn how to control it. I will help you," she promised softly, "Now, do you remember the deal you made?"

"Y-yes," his voice scraped at throat, the feeling so new to him, like he hadn't spoke since the beginning of time.

"Is that all?" the woman prodded.

"No, but I feel-" he struggled with the words to describe the mess that was his mind, "I feel like somethings are still missing."

"Good. The rest will come to you with time," she reassured him. She put out her hand towards him, "Here, let's return."

He reached out his hand to grabs hers but another memory flashed across his vision. Another hand being held towards him. Another woman asking her to trust him. He stopped himself.

"Who are you?" he asked. Maybe knowing her name would make him trust her more.

"I am the second of the three Fates, Lachesis." _Lachesis, Lachesis, Lachesis._ He knew that name. She's the one who- _Lachesis jumped to the front seat and wrestled him, trying to take his hand._

His chest tightened, "You. You're the one who brought me here," he said accusingly.

Lachesis looked down, ashamed, "I am truly sorry for the pain I caused you. I didn't know the way here would be so... traumatic, but you needed to know the truth."

He eyed her, looking for any sign of dishonesty, but he couldn't find any.

He grasped her hand and squeezed to show her his forgiveness. Lachesis gasped and looked up to him, surprised with his acceptance of her apology.

He smiled at her, "Let's get out of here."

In the blink of an eye, white winds spun around them, flying them back to reality, back home.

 _Perseus Jackson, the bearer of the Fate's divine will, their soldier, their champion, was going home._

* * *

 **Holy shit. There you go. Sorry it took so long to update, I was busy crying over some stupid book *cough cough* acourtofmistandfury *cough cough*.**

 **Hope you liked it! Please review! It's so awesome to read what you guys think about the story so far whether it be compliments or things that need to be fixed.**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I have a treat for you guys, here's another chapter! Please enjoy and don't forget to review!**

 **P.S. - It's a double treat because it's been a while since we've seen our babe-a-licous Artemis in action.**

* * *

 _He smiled at her, "Let's get out of here."_

 _In the blink of an eye, white winds spun around them, flying them back to reality, back home._

 _Perseus Jackson, the bearer of the Fate's divine will, their soldier, their champion, was going home._

* * *

She had been looking for days and there still was absolutely no sign of him. She had looked all across New York City, she even visited his apartment, or what was left of it. The entire building had burnt down.

The only clue she had found was an inn 20 miles away from his apartment. The Mystic Mermaid Inn was apparently famous for their waterbeds, but a few days ago, all the waterbeds on the first floor had spontaneously burst. It had to be him.

There were also posters everywhere warning tourists and commuters of a car thief that was in the area. Coincidentally, this thief had stolen a car, a Honda Odyssey, the same day all the beds popped. Police found the car abandoned on the side of the road a few miles out. The police report said that there was a strong smell of smoke around the car, but nothing else was out of the ordinary.

Either way, she decided to follow the highway and see if he had kept traveling on foot. Now she was camped in a small forest preserve 30 miles away from where she had found the car and there still was no trace of him.

She sighed and rubbed at her temples. She was supposed to report back to her father in a few days and she was hoping she would at least have some good news.

"Lady Artemis, the wolf scouts are back from their twilight patrol. They picked up a strong immortal scent a few miles from here. It's different from anything we found earlier. It might be him," a voice spoke hopefully from outside her tent.

She didn't answer. _She understood that she needed to see if he was still alive but w_ _hy couldn't Zeus just let him be? If he didn't want to be found he wouldn't._

"Lady? I know you've been losing hope lately, but we'll find him. Percy can't stay hidden forever. He'll have to come out and blow up something eventually," the voice smiled.

Artemis let a laugh escape. Knowing Perseus that was very likely. "Alright, Thalia," she said as she opened the flaps of her tent to face her lieutenant, "Let's get hunting."

Thalia beamed back at Artemis, "I'll gather a hunting party. We leave at your command." Thalia bowed her head and left towards the hunters' tents.

Artemis went back inside her tent and changed into her hunting gear. She wondered if they would actually find him tonight. If finally after all this time, her mission would be done. Part of her wanted this all to be over because Hades, why should she be reduced to a demigod babysitter? But then a small, very tiny part of her wanted to make sure that Perseus was okay.

During the Giant War he had almost died and then actually died all within 24 hours. And she had the witness the aftermath of both and neither time was pleasant. She still was haunted by the way he looked with that dagger stuck in his chest. He didn't deserve what Annabeth had done to him. Perseus was one of the kindest men- no people- she had ever met and to see him be torn apart was heartbreaking. She felt like she owed it to him to find him and bring him back home.

Artemis let loose a breath and looked into her mirror at her reflection. _I will find you, Perseus. I'm going to bring you home._

She emerged from the tent wearing formfitting pants and jacket that were both a dark silvery color. On her back was her bow along with a quiver full of deadly looking arrows with silver-colored shafts and shiny black arrowheads. Her black hair was arranged in a simple braid, and the only thing separating her look from the rest of her hunters was the intricate silver circlet around her brow.

She walked to the center of the Hunter Camp and found a trio of girls waiting from her. They were her three best hunters: Thalia, Cassia, and Rhode, the daughters of Zeus, Nike, and Aphrodite respectively.

Thalia stepped forward with the other two girls flanking her, "We're ready when you are, my lady." Artemis eyed the three girl, a flare of pride sprung within her for her hunters. She had lost many girls in the Giant War, yet she still had many who were just as brave and deadly as the ones who died.

"To the wolves, girls," Artemis said as she headed in the direction of the wolf den that was placed right outside of camp. You see, while the hunters were immortally blessed and could outrun any human and probably most demigods, they still needed an even faster mode of transportation with even more endurance.

That's where the wolves came in and they weren't just ordinary wolves either. Artemis's wolves were the size of horses and much more dangerous. Their claws could easily tear through drakon skin and their jaws were capable of crushing cyclops bones effortlessly. Needless to say, they were amazing hunters and therefore the perfect match for Artemis.

The group stopped in front of a small clearing that held over a dozen sleeping wolves. Artemis whistled for her wolf. From the middle of the clearing, the largest wolf rose and trotted over. He was beautiful with a plush grey coat and amber eyes that shone in the moonlight. The wolf stopped at Artemis's feet and stared into her eyes.

"Ready for a hunt, Cato?" she asked. The wolf grinned and stomped at the ground in response. Artemis smiled back at him then turned to her hunters, "Get your wolves, girls. We have a lost demigod to find."

They mounted their wolves and faced the trees ahead of them. Artemis felt her stomach buzz in anticipation. _This could be it. She could be back with Perseus on Mount Olympus before sunrise_. She fisted her hands into Cato's fur to anchor herself and breathed in deeply, tensing her body in preparation, "Move out!"

The wolves took off into the night, running as swiftly as a mountain stream. Artemis could feel Cato's muscles stretch and pull under her as he jumped over boulders and dodged trees. It was on of her favorite feeling in the whole world, to ride her wolf. It was better than flying, better than drinking the best nectar, it was so good she couldn't name anything like it.

They followed the immortal's scent they found earlier, the scent of smoke, until it was so strong that even the hunters could smell it. The wolves slowed to a steady jog, their footfalls barely audible. Artemis felt Cato tense beneath and crouched on top of him, readying herself for anything that might burst from the bushes.

The group broke through a wall of trees and found themselves in an opening by a small pond. Artemis could see smoke rise from a pile of darkened wood. Whoever had been here left no too long ago.

"Thalia. Cassia. Go search the perimeter of the camp," she ordered. If the person had made a run for it, those two would definitely catch them. All of Artemis's wolves were unnaturally fast, but their wolves were even faster. Deadly in battle and perfect for hunting quick prey.

"Yes, Lady Artemis," the two said in unison as they bowed their heads. Artemis blinked and they were gone. She smirked, it was as if they were faster than light itself.

"Rhode, have Nyla sniff around the camp and see if she can find if a scent leads anywhere," Artemis said to Rhode and her wolf. Rhode nodded her head and turned her wolf towards the middle of the makeshift camp.

Artemis steered her wolf to a tiny shelter near the pond. It was so rudimentary that she could barely call it a tent. It was made up of a couple large tree branches and a dirty piece of cloth. She let Cato sniff out the abandoned tent, "Anything interesting, Cato?"

 _"Not much, my lady. Only smoke."_ He stuck his head further into the shelter and let out a huff when he came across a rumpled shirt, _"Wait, this shirt has a different scent on it."_

Excited, Artemis perched herself high on Cato's shoulders. "What is it? Is it him?" she asked.

 _"I'm not sure. It smells like... like rain."_ Artemis's shoulder sunk. Rain. Not the ocean. Hades, she was so stupid to think that this actually might have been him.

She let out a groan of frustration and gripped at her hair, ruining her braid in the process. The hunt had been for nothing. She raised her fingers to her lips to whistled to her hunters to return, but before she could make a sound, a flash of movement caught her eyes.

She pulled her bow out from behind her and drew an arrow, placing on the bowstring, ready to fire it at any moment. Cato's hackles rose and he readied himself for a fight.

Artemis ran her eyes across the trees and pool, looking for any sign of danger. The snap of a twig sounded from her right. She spun around and aimed her arrow at the source of the noise, but she saw nothing.

The hair on the back of her neck rose. Something was wrong. The woods had gone silent. She couldn't even hear Rhode and her wolf as they patrolled around the camp. _Where were they?_

Artemis made her way back to the spot where she had left the two. When she was close enough she could make out two figures lying on the ground. She stiffened. Rhode and Nyla.

Artemis swirled around looking for their attackers and found nothing. She started to panic. She couldn't lose anymore hunters. "Where are you?" she hissed as she scanned over the small camp.

She caught a glimpse of a shadow and in a heartbeat she had aimed and fired three arrows. Artemis heard a grunt in the darkness and smirked. She had hit them, not directly from the sound that they made, but it was definitely more than a scratch.

Artemis pulled another arrow and trailed it along the camp, ready to fire again. She tapped her feet at Cato's stomach, inching him forward, but he had become still beneath her.

She kicked at Cato's body a little harder, but still he made no move forward. He only started to sway back and forth as if he were asleep. "Cato," she whispered nervously, "Cato, move."

He only swayed even more and before she could try again, Cato collapsed beneath her, trapping her leg under his bulk. _Shit, not good._ In alarm, Artemis shoved at her wolf, trying to get some relief from his weight. The more time she took, the more vulnerable she became. She had to work quickly.

After a nerve-wracking minute, Artemis freed herself and leapt up onto her feet. She felt an ache begin to spread across her right leg. It was probably bruised from Cato's fall. She tested her weight on it. Pain flared and she sucked in a swift breath. It would slow her down, but she could still fight fine.

Artemis reached to her back for her bow and stopped when she felt nothing but air. Her bow must be stuck under Cato. She couldn't risk wasting time retrieving it so instead she pulled at the hidden hunting knives sheathed in her belt.

They flipped around in her hands as she warmed up her wrists, their beautiful black blades and silver handles shining in the moonlight. Artemis stalked around the camp as stealthy as a mountain lion.

She stilled as she heard a rustle of leaves and waited for a glimpse of a figure. Her muscles tensed as she saw a body standing in the shadows. She lunged towards in, angling her knives to incapacitate them. But when her weapons hit, it was not flesh they sunk into. It was wood.

She looked at what she had attacked. It was a tree with the same shirt she had found in the tent wrapped around its trunk. Her eyes widened and before she could make another move, she was tackled to the ground and her knives were knocked out of her hands.

The body on top of her pushed the air out her lungs and left her gasping. With them so close to her, she could feel what they were. A man. And by the smell of him, a demigod too.

Artemis growled and kicked at his stomach and chest. Surprisingly, he took the blows and didn't even hit back. He only held her wrists tightly to the ground. She tried to pull her arms away but Gods, he was strong.

She kicked out again, this time higher, aiming for his shoulder. She heard a thud against his flesh and then a gasp escaped his lips. _So that's where she hit him._ His pain provided a small release and she was able to throw him off her.

She hadn't even made it four steps before he caught her feet and sent her back into the dirt. This time he was smart enough to wrap his legs around her, trapping her legs. He then clamped his hands around her wrists again, but not before she landed a solid punch to his face.

Artemis writhed like a snake, trying everything to just get him off, but he was an unrelenting cage of flesh. She glared up his face, seeing what he looked like for the first time.

Tangled hair covered half of his face. It was filled with twigs and leaves, probably from their tumble on the ground. His face was bloody, but underneath it was ordinary, maybe even a bit handsome, but nothing very striking.

And then she met his eyes. They were unlike anything she had ever seen before. They were white, a shining white that reminded her of swirling rain clouds and icy snowstorms.

"Who are you?" she wondered out loud. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen any demigod or immortal with white eyes. Where did this strange man come from?

Shockingly, he grinned at her. She growled and struggled against him. He was mocking her. "Answer me, boy," she snarled.

He leaned in and stopped so close to her face that if she decided to headbutt him, she was sure that she would shove his nose right into his brain. She was tempted to do that, it did sound like a rather fun idea, but needed to know who this man was first.

Artemis could feel his breath on her face and could smell his scent. Rain and something else. Something familiar that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

His eyes bore into her own as if looking into her soul. "You mean you don't remember me, Lady Artemis?" the man whispered and then laughed, "No wonder it took you so long to find me. You can't even recognize me."

Artemis froze in shock, "Perseus?"

* * *

 **Soooooooo, how was it? Review and tell me what you think! I hope you liked it.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Wow wow wow wow. Three chapters three days in a row. Isn't that swell? Enjoy and don't forget to review!**

* * *

 _He leaned in and stopped so close to her face that if she decided to headbutt him, she was sure that she would shove his nose right into his brain. She was tempted to do that, it did sound like a rather fun idea, but needed to know who this man was first._

 _Artemis could feel his breath on her face and could smell his scent. Rain and something else. Something familiar that she couldn't quite put her finger on._

 _His eyes bore into her own as if looking into her soul. "You mean you don't remember me, Lady Artemis?" the man whispered and then laughed, "No wonder it took you so long to find me. You can't even recognize me."_

 _Artemis froze in shock, "Perseus?"_

* * *

It was nice to see a familiar face. For the past few days, the only faces he saw were the Fates's and even then he didn't see them that much. They stopped by to check on him every other day or so and only stayed for five minutes at most. They said that if they stayed to long, their strong smokey scent would attract too many unwanted visitors.

Whenever they came, they gave him new tasks. Master calling to his white flames was the first one.

He sat on a log for staring at his hands for five hours until a small flicker popped from his fingertips. He was so excited that he had made progress that he broke his focus and the flames immediately went out. But it was progress he told himself. After that he was able to summon them quicker and quicker. Soon it only took a flick of his hands to ignite his fingers.

Percy was confident in his flame powers, but he soon realized that he had absolutely no control over them. His first mistake was trying to summon them past his hands. His entire body burst into flames and his panic had caused his entire camp to burn down. He tried to put it out with his water powers, but the minute he grabbed hold of some water to put the fire out, he passed out.

He guessed that these new powers had pushed out his old ones, just like how his eyes were no longer green. Thinking of that always sent a pang of loss through his heart. His old life was truly gone. He had nothing left from it.

Some days, he screamed for hours, cursing at himself and the Fate's, mourning his old self. Once in a fit of rage, he tried to claw his eyes out. Those disgusting white demon eyes. He thinks that he might have gotten one out but soon he fainted from loss of blood. When he woke up, he was perfectly fine and both of his eyes were in tact.

He was also plagued by visions. The Fates called them that at least. A better name was a mindfuck.

They started out as a pounding in the back of his head. The pounding would get worse and worse until it felt like his mind was being split in two. Then he would be thrown into 'the Abyss', that was what he liked to called the darkness. After being thrown there, he saw things.

Glimpses of the future. Clues from the past. Sometimes just faces. They would mean something eventually, but usually they made no sense at all.

Time was always different in the Abyss. Sometimes it felt like he was there for decades, wandering around in the darkness aimlessly until he almost forgot who he was. Or it could feel like mere seconds, like there wasn't enough time to comprehend what he was seeing before he was launched back into reality.

Then came his next task: Master the mindfucks.

If Percy thought he had little success with summoning and controlling his fire, then his task would be completely impossible.

He tried meditating through the pounding, seeing if he could make it go away or just lessen the pain. Instead it sent him into a half-sleep that locked up his body and made the pounding last even longer before he was sent to the Abyss.

Plan B then. Unlike trying to make the pain go away, he would try to hit it head on. The next time he felt the pounding, he focused on it, trying to make it worse. He held his breath to cut off his oxygen, hung upside down to get blood to rush to his head. He did anything that would make the pain worse so that he could be sent to the Abyss as quickly as possible.

That didn't work either. Every time, the pain knocked him out and when he woke up, the pounding was there to greet him again. After that he gave up. Trying to master the visions just made them worse. Maybe he would get used to them after a while.

He really hoped that happened soon because now he got them more often, almost every few hours. They also took over his dreams. What used to be his one moment of peace in the day, turned into sleepless nights and haunting pictures.

The one improvement that he could find was that there no longer was an increasing pounding in his head. Instead he was randomly hit with extreme pain and knocked out in the matter of seconds.

He was always doing something when that happened. The last one he had was when he was scouting up in a tree and everything went black. He wasn't alone in the darkness for long until he started seeing visions.

Surprisingly, he loved watching the beginning of visions. They always start with a swirling of a white wind that caressed his face with a warm softness. It was one of the only times he felt... whole. Like he could forget about what had happened to him. Forget that he was broken beyond repair.

Then the wind would clear and he was again burdened with reality. After the wind cleared in this vision, he saw pictures that made him freeze.

 _A woman sat in front of a fire in dark clothes, a bow strapped to her back, and a silver circlet around her head. A girl in the same dark clothes stood beside her, he hands behind her back._

 _"Lady Artemis, we found a lead to an inn 20 miles northwest from here. It might be him," the girl spoke._

 _The woman stood from her seat and brushed off her clothes. "Good. Tell the hunters to pack up camp. We leave in an hour," she ordered, her voice hard and cold._

 _The girl turned and left, leaving the woman who stared at the fire, face wrinkled in exhaustion. She tilted he head to the sky and looked at the moon._

 _"Please let this be him."_

The world went dark again as the visions ended and the white wind faded away. Percy stood in the Abyss shocked. They were looking for him. Hunting him down. He had to leave. Now.

He woke up on the forest ground. His wrist stung with pain, probably broken, and his limbs were covered in nasty bruises. Even though his entire body ached, he ran back to camp and start to pack his things. If he left quickly enough, he might be able to put a large enough distance between them.

"What do you think you're doing?" a voice asked.

Percy didn't even bother to turn around. He already knew who it was.

"What does it look like, Lachesis? I'm running before the hunters catch me," Percy muttered as he jammed his sleeping roll into his backpack. He was already halfway done packing. In five minutes he'd be gone.

Lachesis looked him up and down and chuckled. Atropos sent her here to tell him that he needed to stay her and face Artemis, but she could wait until he was fully packed to tell him.

"Perseus?" she asked sweetly, putting on her best I'm-definitely-not-scheming face.

Percy turned to face her a look of annoyance on his face, "What?" She was slowing him down. He could have been gone by now.

Lachesis looked down to the ground, acting coy, "Well," she started slowly, "I was thinking."

Percy looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to finish her thought, but she had gone silent. He let out an agitated sigh.

"What. What is it?" he said bitingly. He still go no answer from her, "Spit it out, Lachesis, I need to leave."

"That's what I was thinking about actually," she smiled, "Before I came here, Atropos said something about me having to tell you that you're not to leave, but I can't seem to remember it all."

Percy went still, "And why could you have told me this sooner?" he seethed.

Lachesis ignored him and circled him, stopped at his back, and pulled at his pack. "I guess you'll have to unpack everything," she laughed.

Percy's body sagged with tiredness. He slung off his pack and took a seat on the ground, "You're the worst, you know that right?"

"Like you're any better," Lachesis countered as she sunk down next to him.

Percy let out a huff through his nose, "So why am I staying here instead of running from the goddess who will most likely stick an arrow in me?

"You need to heal," Percy opened his mouth to argue but no sound came out, "I know you've been having difficultly mastering your new powers and Atropos thinks that may be because you're holding yourself back. Physically, you should be able to master everything without much trouble, but you're hesitating."

"And you think Artemis will help with this?" he asked warily.

Lachesis sighed, "I don't know if she'll fix everything, but it's worth trying. She's familiar and you haven't had many... conflicts, with her in the past."

Percy mulled over the idea in his head. If this would help make him whole again, then he would try.

"Fine. What do you need me to do?"

Lachesis smiled and told him everything he needed to know. He would travel with the hunters, but he couldn't let Artemis take him back to Olympus, he would be kind and respectful to the hunters, and if he needed to contact Lachesis, he could speak to her in his mind. He only needed to think her name and she would answer.

Before she left, she said that Artemis would arrive after sunset. He had an hour till sunset. _Only one hour till her saw her._ He had to think of a way to keep her and her hunters from killing him without hurting them.

He built up his plan until everything was in place. The sun just dipped under the horizon, it wouldn't be long till she'd be here. She would definitely bring some of her hunters, but not too many. It would be a stealth party.

The first step would be to lead some of them away with a false scent. He had scattered pieces of his clothes all across the forest in at least a three-mile radius. Hopefully that would keep the hunters occupied.

Then he would take out anyone else until only Artemis was left. She would be the hardest part. He was definitely going to have to dodge a lot of arrows. He needed to get her weaponless. He was stronger than her and if he could take out her bow and knives, he could hold her down long enough to talk to her.

He began to clean and sharpen Riptide. He wasn't going to be using it, but it ease his nerves. Minutes later he heard the crackling of branches. He stood quietly, sheathed Riptide, and climbed a tree.

Three minutes later, Artemis emerged from the trees with two hunters, and holy gods, Thalia. She was going to kill him if she caught him. And the wolves, he forgot about those.

They were enormous and looked extremely deadly. Percy shuddered, he'd figure out how to deal with those later. He watched as Thalia and another hunter went off into the woods. Good. He only had to take down one hunter.

Once Artemis and the hunter were out of sight, he slid down the tree and dropped to the ground. He looked around for the hunter. There, in the middle of his camp. He slunk across the grass like a panther, his muscles straining to make his steps as quiet as possible.

In the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of movement. He quickly ducked behind a tree and looked for what had caused it. It was Artemis. She and her wolf were snooping around his tent.

She ran her eyes in his direction, raising her bow. She could sense him. He had to work quicker. He continued in the direction of the single hunter the moment Artemis was facing the other direction.

He stopped a few feet away from the pair. He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a smooth small rock. The hunter would wake up with a killer headache, but this was better than having to fight her.

He reeled his arm back and aimed at the hunter's temple. Once his arm went steady, he launched the rock at her head. It sailed true and he heard a thump, a curse, and then a deep thud as she hit the ground.

Now the wolf which was now pacing with its hackles risen. It pointed its nose up in the air as if to get a scent. When it put its head back down, its eyes locked with his.

 _Oh shit._

Percy slowly stood and raised his hands in front of him, showing the wolf he meant no harm. The wolf only bared its giant teeth and prowled towards him.

 _"Lachesis, I need your help,"_ Percy thought.

The wolf was so close now that Percy could smell its breath.

 _"Lachesis, I'm going to become a chew toy if you don't answer soon."_

His back bumped against a tree. He was stuck, cornered, done for. The wolf's fangs were only inches from his throat.

 _"Lachesis!"_ Percy mentally screamed, his mind straining.

 _"What?! Gods you're annoying. What do you want?"_ Lachesis's voice echoed inside his head.

 _"The wolf, Lachesis. What do I do about the wolf!"_ Percy thought desperately.

 _"Just tell it to stop, Perseus," she replied plainly._

 _"This isn't a time for jokes, Lachesis,"_ he said, starting to panic. He could see the wolf tense itself up, ready to pounce on him.

 _"I'm not joking. You're words have power, Perseus. They are weapons of destiny. Good luck, champion."_ With that, her presence faded from his mind and he was left alone with the wolf.

Percy let out a shaky breath. Hades, he was a goner. _What was he going to do? Tell the dog to play dead?_

He gathered his courage and opened his mouth, "Sit," he whispered to the wolf, trying to put power into his words like Lachesis said.

The wolf hesitated slightly, but still inched toward him. He tried again, making his voice stronger this time.

"Sit down."

The wolf froze. Then before his eyes, it slowly sat on the ground. Percy let out a huff of victory. He had done it. Now he just needed to knock the wolf out, just like its hunter.

"Sleep," he spoke. He swore he could see the magic from them ripple through the air, fly into the wolf, pull it down to the ground, lulling it to sleep. Percy sighed and pushed himself off of the tree. That was close.

Percy walked in the direction of his tent where Artemis was. He was only a few paces away from her and then he took a step onto a stick which let out a loud crack. Percy saw Artemis whirl her bow in his way and ducked into a bush.

He saw her still, she was probably listening for him. She suddenly pushed her wolf forward in the way he came from. He followed her from a distance, thinking of way to proceed with his plan.

She stopped in front of the hunter and wolf he had knocked out. He could feel the anger roll off her. She swiveled around on her wolf, ready to shoot anything that moved.

"Where are you?" she hissed. Oh she was definitely furious.

He stepped closer, trying to get a better angle of her and her wolf. Then before he could dodge, Artemis twisted her bow at him and shot out three of her arrows. A burning sensation took over his shoulder. Percy let out a grunt of pain. Hades, she was a good archer.

Ok. Fun was over. Percy inched as close to the pair as he dared, holding his breath to stay silent.

He built of power in his throat and whispered to the wolf, hopefully low enough that Artemis didn't hear.

"Go to sleep."

The magic took hold and the wolf's body slowly froze and started to sink to the ground. He heard Artemis whisper to the wolf, urge it to move, but it was already half-asleep.

And before she could jump off, the wolf fell, trapping her beneath it. That was his cue. Percy took off sprinting to his tent.

He threw himself inside and grabbed one of his shirts. The he sharply turned back to the direction he came from. He heard the scrape of the wolf's body on the ground. Artemis was free which meant that he didn't have much time before she was after him again.

He ran past her rustling the leaves as he went, trying to grab her attention. She took the bait and began to stalk towards his trap. He had strung up his shit around a tree. Percy prayed it looked enough like a figure in the dim moonlight to trick her.

He ran behind another tree and kept his eyes trained on his trap. Artemis soon came slinking through the trees. He could see her brandish her hunting knives and then lunge for the tree.

After striking the tree, Artemis stilled in confusion. While she was distracted, Percy leapt from behind his tree and threw her to the ground, making sure he knocked her knives away.

She snarled beneath him and threw her feet out at his chest. He let them thud against him and focused on holding onto her wrists. If he leg her go, she would most likely shoot him again.

Percy was sure he had her, but then her foot collided with his injured shoulder. Pain blinded him and caused him to loosen his grip on Artemis's wrists. She threw him off of her and tried to sprint away.

He was too quick for her though. His hand shot out and grabbed at her ankle, sending her crashing back down. He wrapped his body around hers like a vice, making sure her legs were securely held down.

Her arm snaked out and struck his cheek with a smack. Before she could land another, Percy gripped both of her arms and forced them to the dirt. Artemis fought against him, twisting and turning, trying to get some release. He did not relent and held strong.

She gave one last tug and then stilled. She looked up at face and ran her eyes over his features. Her eyes caught his and she paused, eye widening in fascination.

Percy internally flinched, but held her stare. Was she scared? Did she think he was a demon too?

"Who are you," she whispered. Percy smiled. She couldn't even recognize him.

He watched Artemis's faced scrunch up in anger, "Answer me, boy," she growled at him.

Percy let out a small huff through his nose and pressed his face closer to hers, "You mean you don't remember me, Lady Artemis?," he laughed quietly, "No wonder it took you so long to find me. You can't even recognize me."

Her eyes widened and the anger on her face melted into shock.

"Perseus?"

* * *

 **So that was basically Percy's point of view of the last chapter. I hope you liked it. Please leave a review and share your thoughts!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here is the next chapter! I hope you like it. Also don't forget to leave a review or comment on what you think about the story so far.**

* * *

 _"Who are you," she whispered. Percy smiled. She couldn't even recognize him._

 _He watched Artemis's faced scrunch up in anger, "Answer me, boy," she growled at him._

 _Percy let out a small huff through his nose and pressed his face closer to hers, "You mean you don't remember me, Lady Artemis?," he laughed quietly, "No wonder it took you so long to find me. You can't even recognize me."_

 _Her eyes widened and the anger on her face melted into shock._

 _"Perseus?"_

* * *

Percy pushed himself up and relaxed into a seated position, letting his arms hold him up. After a couple heartbeats, Artemis did the same, her movements slow from shock.

They stayed in silence for a minute or so, letting the information sink in. Then Artemis looked at Percy. He had his head tilted up to the sky, gazing up at the stars.

She opened her mouth then closed it, trying to find the right words to say. Thinking, she noticed how stunning his eyes were in the moonlight. They gleamed and reflected the light like a wolf's. _How odd._

Percy turned his head, met her stare, and gave a slight frown. _She was looking at his eyes._ He looked down, ashamed of the 'gift' the Fates had given him. "They're horrible, aren't they?"

His words shook Artemis out of her daze. "Oh, no- I think their... nice. Different, but nice," she admitted honestly. Percy stiffened under her words, but didn't say anything else.

"What happened to you, Perseus?" she asked carefully. She watched him for a reaction, but he stayed perfectly still, not saying a word.

There was a long pause until Percy spoke, like he was preparing himself.

"Well," he started, "I died." And so he told her about the darkness he was sent to when Annabeth killed him. How the Fates blasted him with their power, making him their soldier and champion after he agreed to their deal.

Percy snuck a glance at her, trying to find a glimpse of pity, but he found none. _Good. He didn't want everyone he knew to look at him like a broken toy. Granted he really was broken, but no one needed to know that._

He felt like she understood him and what he was feeling. Artemis knew about hardship and loss. Percy had seen her despair when Zoe had died, how lost she had looked. Then there was the Giant War where Artemis had buried almost half of her hunters.

He talked about his journey from Greece to New York with Mrs. O'Leary, getting lost in Europe and ending up in one too fancy restaurants. Then there were his nightmares. He didn't go into full detail, but she was starting to understand what his powers might be.

He didn't even try talking about his mom. He could barely think about her without losing control of himself. So he skipped to the motel he stayed at for a few days. He let out a small laugh as he told Artemis about bursting all their waterbeds.

Then Percy told Artemis about the Fates and how incredibly annoying they were. She laughed at his descriptions of the three goddesses. Not in her entire immortal life would she have imagined the controllers of destiny to be a such funny trio.

"Then they left me here to train. They wanted me to control my fire and my visions. I've only been able to get the fire part down so far," Percy grimaced.

Artemis looked at him in wonder, "You can control fire?" How ironic for a son of Poseidon to have fire powers.

"Control is a loose term, but yeah," he chuckled, remembering the first few camps he had burned down.

"May I see?" Artemis asked hopefully.

Percy nodded and motioned for her to back away. He wasn't going to take any chances. He didn't want to give Artemis a reason for turning him into a forest creature.

He held his hands out in front of him, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. He let loose the air through his nose and when he looked down to his hands, they were alight with his white flames.

Artemis sighed at the sight of them. _They are so lovely, and they match his eyes._ She could feel the heat pour off him. It warmed her entire body, making her feel loose and relaxed.

She never felt a fire like this one before. She had felt the harsh and furious flames of a forest fire and the small blaze of a bonfire that swathed you in comfort, but nothing like this.

This fire made her feel strong, ready, and most of all complete. It made her feel like her, like who she really was, letting her know what she was truly capable of doing, of what destiny would make of her. The hunter inside of her roared with excitement, bathing itself in the flames, relishing in the power they gave it.

Then the light winked out and she was left in darkness once again. She realized she was breathing more rapidly than before and her face was flushed with heat. She looked at Percy who was looking at her with wide eyes.

"What? What is it?" she asked him.

Percy blinked and shook his head, trying to shake off the stupid look that was probably all over his face. He cleared his throat, "You were glowing, like really glowing."

His vision was still slightly blurry from the light that had come off her. Normally, Artemis gave off a silvery glow like all gods did. The glow was a show of their immortality.

But just now, she had shone like a star. Her skin so bright, it was almost white, and her eyes became liquid pools of mercury, ready to drown him. What startled him even more was the whisper of a thought that had flitted through his mind. _She was beautiful._

"Was I?" Artemis murmured and Percy looked at her in bewilderment. _Had he said that out loud?_

He eyed her carefully, looking for any sign of offense, but he saw none. She must be talking about the glowing he mentioned earlier. He let out a sigh of relief, thank the gods she hadn't heard him.

Suddenly she stood and moments later Percy knew why. Her two scouts soon broke through the tree line and at the sight of him, they drew their bows threateningly. He leapt to a crouch and pulled at his weapons then stilled at the emptiness at his waist.

He didn't arm himself because he did not want to hurt Artemis of her hunters that badly. He even left Riptide, which he knew would not appear in his pocket anytime soon. Its magic had vanished along with his son of Poseidon heritage.

Percy readied himself to duck at any twang of a bow. He watched their faces as they looked from him to Artemis who was still flecked with bruises from their scuffle. The turned back to him and glared. He swore under his breath and looked to Thalia, hoping she would recognize him and give him mercy and not shoot, but she looked through him just as Artemis had before.

The scouts bowstrings moaned as they pulled them tighter, prepared to fire. Then Artemis raised her hand, an order to stand down.

"Put your bows down, girls," Artemis called to them. Thalia lowered her bow slowly, but the other dark-skinned girl held hers steady, unflinching.

"Lady Artemis, he has hurt you. He must pay," she hissed. She pierced him with her deep green eyes. They weren't the green his used to be. Hers were flecked with browns and yellows, like trees in the summer.

Her gaze left his face and went onto Artemis's who held her chin high and stared back unblinking, the face of a leader. "Put down your bow, Cassia," she said sternly.

The girl, Cassia he now knew, hesitated, but reluctantly dropped her aim, plucked her arrow from her bowstring, and placed it back in her quiver. Even with her weapon down, she stayed alert, looking just as deadly without a weapon.

Percy relaxed his leg and extended himself into a standing position. He made sure not to stand too close to Artemis. He didn't want to give the hunters any other reason to shoot him.

Artemis relaxed as well, her face softening. "Rhode and Nyla are in the middle of the camp. Cato is there too. They were all knocked unconscious. Tend to them."

Thalia glared at Percy, but turned and went off in Rhode's direction quickly. Cassia, on the other hand, spun her head at Percy, her lip curling up in contempt, showing her teeth. She gave him a long look, it was a warning he realized, then left in toward Cato.

"Now," Artemis said as she turned to Percy, "Let's take you to Olympus." She made a motion to grab his arm, but he weaved away from her reach. She looked at him tiredly, "Don't play with me, boy. Let's go."

She reached again and this time Percy grabbed her hand gently then dropped it. This was a warning too. She would not win if she were to fight him.

"I'm not going to Olympus. I'm to go with you and your hunt," he stated. Lachesis told him he was supposed to do this and because she was his patron, he would follow her orders.

Artemis let out an exasperated breath at the demigod's unwillingness, "You will come with me or I will drag you there." Her voice showed none of her nervousness that she held inside. She did not want to fight Percy, but maybe if she got a hand on him, if she was quick enough, she could take them both to Olympus.

Percy's eyes hardened and he planted his feet firmly in the ground, showing that he was going nowhere. "I know what you are thinking, Lady Artemis, and it won't work," he declared knowingly.

She bore her eyes into his own, trying to find some weakness, some way to force him to come, some way to break his resolve. She found none and relented.

"Fine," she sighed and then her voice became steely, "But if you so much as look at one of my hunters wrong, I will haul you to Olympus with all but one piece of your body."

Despite himself, Percy shivered. He knew exactly what 'one piece' she was talking about. "I expect nothing less, Lady Artemis," he spoke, his head held down in respect.

"Alright, to camp then," Artemis said as she looked up at the sky, judging where the moon was, telling the time, "If the wolves are fine, we should reach camp before dawn." She turned in the direction of her sleeping wolf and motioned him to follow.

They walked in silence until they stopped before Artemis's hunters. Cassia was kneeling beside Cato, trying to shake him awake, while Thalia was treating the girl Percy had knocked out.

She looked there was a bump on her head, but she was unhurt otherwise. He winced at the color of the bump and the round bruise that marked where the rock had hit her. He wished he had known the power of his words before he had knocked her out.

Thalia stood when she saw the group and Cassia raised her head. Her eyes iced over him like he was furniture and then she turned to Artemis and bowed her head. "Rhode is bruised but fine. The wolves, on the other hand, are out cold," she reported.

Artemis knelt next to Cassia and inspected her wolf. Artemis tried shaking him Cato awake just like Cassia had done, but he stayed unmoving. Maybe Percy's magic hadn't worn off yet.

Percy looked to the girls to see if they were watching and then quietly, below his breath he spoke, "Wake up." He felt the tremor as the power he poured into his words slammed into the wolf.

The wolf's eyes flashed open and locked onto him. Percy flinched back at the intelligence they held. Cato growled unkindly at him and suddenly lunged. Percy thankfully dodged, but by avoiding Cato's attack, he backed up right into the face of another wolf.

He swore in his mind. He meant to only wake up Cato, but his words must have been too strong. He'd have to be careful in the future, that being if there was a future. Right now if was very likely that he would be mauled to death by two very _very_ angry wolves.

"Cato. Nyla. He is a friend. He will be traveling with us for a little while," Artemis spoke softly and then paused as if she was waiting for an answer. The wolves looked to her and nodded their heads in submission.

They then walked over to their respective hunters. The one he guessed was Nyla trotted over to Rhode and licked at her face. She laughed and grabbed and the wolf's fur, using it to help herself stand.

The bigger wolf, Cato, walked to Artemis, keeping his eyes on Percy the entire time, watching his moments closely. Once he reached his lady, he sat down next to her, so near that his shoulder brushed hers.

Percy sighed in relief and let his body relax. He was about to thank Artemis until a voice interrupted him.

"What?! You let this _boy_ join the hunt, Lady Artemis," Cassia snarled.

"This boy happens to be very... unique. Zeus has put me in charge of finding him," Artemis explained. She then gave a feline grin, "Think of him as more of our prisoner." Percy's mouth fell open in offense, but a smirk lifted at the corners of Cassia's lips.

Thalia looked at Artemis with the same face, "And what is our _prisoner's_ name, Lady Artemis?"

"His name is Per-"

"Moiraides," Perseus interrupted a little too loudly, "My name is Moiraides." _The son of the Fates._ He couldn't let them know who he really was, at least not yet. He didn't need them to look at him with pity. For once it was nice living in a world where no one knew who he was, and no cared to know either.

Thalia let out a laugh at the name and Percy felt his ears burn in embarrassment. He knew it was stupid, but it was all he could think of. "Alright _Moiraides,_ let's take you to camp."

With that the girls mounted their wolves and turned them to face the forest. Artemis looked over her shoulder at him and gave him an evil smile. "Do keep up, Moiraides", she said and then in a swirl of leaves, she was gone.

Percy looked at the spot they were just in wide-eyed. _Hades, they were fast._ He sprinted quickly to his tent and snatched up his backpack, now thankful that Lachesis had tricked him into packing it.

Then he took of like a bullet in the direction they went and hope he wouldn't get lost trying to find his way to them. He followed the sound of snapping branches and thudding paws for miles.

He gasped at his speed when he began to sprint. He was much faster than he used to be. The trees were a blur beside him as he dodged and ducked around them, chasing after the girls with the swiftness and agility of a panther.

Percy marvel and the way his legs felt so power and strong. At the way the air felt clean in his lungs. At the way he was almost felt genuinely happy for the first time in a while.

Wind blew past him, washing away his grief and guilt. Branches slapped at his arms, stinging him, making him feel alive again. He lost himself in the beauty of the forest. Then he was pulled back into reality when he realized he was running along side one of the wolves.

On this wolf was Artemis who was gaping at him. _He couldn't possibly be running that fast. She didn't even think she could run that fast._

Percy looked at her and grinned in satisfaction. He raised his hand in greeting and then with a spur of energy, he pushed past her. Just as he came nose to nose with her wolf, he called to her, laughing, "Do keep up, Lady Artemis!"

His laugher bounced on the trees and he heard Artemis reply to his jab with a snarl. She whispered into Cato's ear, urging him to go faster. She'd wipe that grin off that boy's face by smearing it in her dust.

Cato happily complied and pounded his paws into the ground even harder, easily gaining the lost ground. Again the two were neck and neck. A challenge flared in Percy's eye and he spurred his legs to go even faster than before.

He let out a whoop as he passed Artemis yet again. He looked back at her with another smart reply on his lips, but just as they were about to leave his mouth, the world tilted. He had tripped over a log.

Now it Artemis's turn to laugh. She laughed so hard that it became difficult to breathe and her sides cramped in pain.

Percy, on the other hand, rolled for a good minute until his body groaned to a stop. Once he came to a complete stop, he stood and let out a small hiss at the pain that covered his body.

He patted his body down to make sure nothing was broken. Surprised he didn't snap any of his bones, he started after the hunters again. He was slower than before, but he was still quick enough that the wind roared in his ears.

He ran for only a few more minutes until he saw them again. They had stopped in front of a large circle of tents and looked like they were waiting for him.

He slowed to a jog and halted several feet away from them. The four girls eyed him weirdly and realized what he must look like. After that fall, he must be covered with mud and dirt.

He swept his hands across his hair and shirt, trying to make himself even the slightest bit more presentable. Artemis looked at him amusedly, "It looks like you had an interesting run."

Percy scratched at the back of his head and his hand caught on a twig. He quickly pulled it out of his hair and threw in on the ground behind him. "It seems I did," he replied, letting out a light chuckle.

Artemis looked him up and down again and then motioned to the circle of silver tents behind her.

"Welcome to camp, Moiraides."

* * *

 **So there that was. This one took a long time to write because I was trying to recover from finishing The Song of Achilles.**

 **If you like greek mythology, which you probably do since you're reading PJO, then this book is AWESOME for you. It's about the Illiad and Achilles and crew and overall it is an AMAZING book. It's beautifully written and has an awesome story.**

 **If you're interested, look on Goodreads for it ( _The Song of Achilles_ by Madeline Miller) and check it out. Also if you have any ****questions about it before you read it, message me. I will also be there as emotional support for the ones who have finished it and are now hollow husks of their old selves because lord knows that book was sad.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's Chapter 13! I hope you guys like it. I used some minor gods as some characters in this chapter** **because I am a complete nerd about Greek mythology. They are tweaked up a little to fit the story and stuff, but they're still pretty close to their originals.**

 **Please review the story and leave a comment on what you thought about it. Reading what you think is fun and I love your guys' feedback!**

* * *

 _He slowed to a jog and halted several feet away from them. The four girls eyed him weirdly and realized what he must look like. After that fall, he must be covered with mud and dirt._

 _He swept his hands across his hair and shirt, trying to make himself even the slightest bit more presentable. Artemis looked at him amusedly, "It looks like you had an interesting run."_

 _Percy scratched at the back of his head and his hand caught on a twig. He quickly pulled it out of his hair and threw in on the ground behind him. "It seems I did," he replied, letting out a light chuckle._

 _Artemis looked him up and down again and then motioned to the circle of silver tents behind her._

 _"Welcome to camp, Moiraides."_

* * *

After Percy arrived at camp, Artemis was kind enough to give him one of her extra tents. She said that it was much better than that 'piece of pegasus shit tent' that he had at his old camp.

She also demanded that he live on the outskirts of the camp away from all of her hunters. He didn't mind that part though. He actually liked the silence of being by himself. It gave him time to think.

It was one of the first times he actually reflected on his life. He thought about his life before knowing he was demigod, how it was utter hell living with Gabe, how he switched schools every year, and then when everything changed.

After he found out who his father really was, his life flew past him. He was always fighting a new monster, a new evil. But all these things made him who he was, or what he used to be before he died. He felt like he lost his memory all over again.

That was another thing he also thought about a lot. How much of his old self did he lose? He knew he lost his eyes and his powers, but what about his personality? Was he still loyal to a fault? Was he still the guy who would never go back on his word? He didn't know, but he hoped he hadn't changed too much.

Another reason why he didn't mind setting up his tent outside of the hunters' camp was that it gave him the freedom to practice his new powers. That by far was the best part of his arrangement.

He practiced with his fire. He created balls of fire that flew from his hands like bullets and giant walls that incinerated anything that tried to pass through them. He worked on letting his entire body become a torch, without lighting his camp on fire this time. Then his greatest show of his control was lighting things on fire, but not burning them.

Percy thought of this while practicing lighting himself. He wondered why he never burned himself even though fire covered every inch of his skin. And when he tried to light something on fire without burning just like he did to himself, it worked.

At first he had to start small, using leaves and branches as targets, but then eventually, he had a circle of fire thirty feet wide surrounding him. It crackled and popped like a normal fire, but when touched, the flames gave a soft caress instead of a burn.

Although it looked magnificent, Percy couldn't see the usefulness of a fire that didn't burn. The silent fire could be used as a threat at best.

He also started to understand the way his visions came and went. They no longer hurt as much and even better, they didn't cause him to pass out anymore. Now when a vision comes, it starts with a cool sensation flowing across his mind, like a river, and then he blacked out.

He tried timing the blackouts. Since he didn't have a timer or even a phone, he decided to do it the old fashioned way; a sundial in the ground. And even though it could only be used during the daytime, it still worked pretty accurately.

Now the second he felt a rush in his head, he would run to his sundial, wait till he was about to blackout, place a stone where the sun's shadow was, and then mark where the sun's shadow was he he came back.

Out of all of his blackouts, the longest he had was around seven minutes. It was so nice to only be gone for seven minutes instead of the hours he'd be passed out before. He felt stronger, more in control, like he had found part of himself again.

So that was his life. Wake up, eat, practice, eat, practice more, eat, and go to sleep. Artemis hadn't called him into camp at all. Maybe she didn't care about what he did. And if she didn't care, well, then neither did he.

He didn't care whatsoever. He didn't care after three days. Or after a week. Or after two weeks. But on the eighteenth day of his isolation, he demanded to know who the hell she thought she was.

That morning he woke up demanding answers. He threw his clothes on and tossed some breakfast together. As he sat violently grinding his wild bird eggs into practically liquid form, he played out his plan over and over in his head.

He would march into camp, ask his questions, and leave victorious. It would be simple, quick, and he would leave as a demigod, not an animal.

After he finished his eggs, he strapped a few knives to his belt and put Riptide in his pocket. He wasn't going to Artemis for a fight, but it was very likely and he wanted to be ready for it.

He strode up the trail to camp, trying not to look to arrogant. He definitely did not need one of the hunters thinking he was a pompous and stupid man and decide to put an arrow in him.

Once he was near the center of the camp, girls started to stare at him, probably wondering just who the Hades he thought he was, but he didn't have time to deal with them. The ones who did dare to aim their bows at him received glares so stony, they gave Medusa a run for her money. After that, they stared after him, but let him pass.

He made his way to the tent in the center of the camp. It didn't look different from any of of the other tents other then the faint glow it gave off. _It must be Artemis's._ He was about to raise his arm to open the tent's flaps until he heard an arrow whiz through the air. He threw himself down, but before it grazed his forearm.

A hiss escaped from his mouth and he looked for the hunter who had shot him. His gaze met green eyes as fiery as greek fire. _Cassia. The hunter who was furious that he travelled with the Hunt._

Percy's nostrils flared in annoyance. _He was so not in the mood right now._ The girl only smirked in response and pulled another arrow to her bow, ready to shoot at him again.

"What do you think you're doing, _boy_?" she scathed and then mocked, "Did you get lost?" She fired a warning shot that landed right between his feet. Percy's hands trembled and he squeezed them into fists, trying to contain himself.

"I just need to talk to Lady Artemis, Cassia. Move or I'll move you myself," Percy threatened, his voice hard as he stepped around the arrow in the ground. He readied himself to leap at her and physically move her and then another arrow shot towards his head.

He dodged it, but it still caught the edge of his ear, earning a grunt from him. A second one that he hadn't noticed scratched his cheek, leaving a shallow cut along his cheekbone.

This time he growled at her. She had the guts to smirk at him again and let loose a third arrow. This time he was ready. His hand shot out like a snake and plucked the arrow from the air.

He heated his hand and melted the silver arrow into a ball of scrap metal. He dropped the mess onto the ground with a thud and gave Cassia his own smirk. The only sign that she gave that she was nervous was furrow of her brows.

She let even more arrows fly at him, but they all dropped out of the air melted and useless. Percy grabbed a knife from his belt and sent it cutting throughout the air towards her face. Her eyes widened as she saw it, and before she could dodge, it grazed her cheek, giving her the same mark she had given him.

Even with blood dripping down her face, Cassia still pointed he bow at him, but this time her entire face was wrinkled in concentration. She was scared, you could see it in her shaking hands. She knew that he was nothing to be trifled with. He was not a kind and merciful enemy. He would step over her smoldering corpse if they actually fought.

 _ **You have to power to take down anyone in your way. You are Perseus, the destroyer. You will destroy your enemies.**_

Percy laughed at her realization. How had she thought she'd even stand a chance against him? He could raze the camp if he wanted to, all with a simple snap of his fingers. He wanted to do it too. He could feel the fire in his veins roaring, feeding his anger, urging him to _just do it_.

 _ **Let the fire burn through you. Lose control. Let go. Forget**_ ** _yourself._**

He could see the camp in flames, the tents caving in on each other, the hunter's stupid silver bows in puddles of useless metal, their bodies just piles of ashes on the ground. Percy lost himself in his mind, letting the flames show him visions of a crimson-stained battlefield, a man standing on top of mounds of lifeless bodies with eyes that swirled with greys and whites.

 _ **This is what you will become, Perseus. A savage killer with no heart. A wildfire that will raze the world. An unstoppable force of destruction.**_

Screams brought him back to reality. His eyes snapped open to a camp engulfed in white flames. He was lying on the ground with Cassia knelt down at his side, bathed in fire and desperately trying to get him to wake. The white flames raged across her clothes, her skin, her hair. _What had he done?_

 _ **Don't panic, Perseus. This is what you were meant to do. A born killer. Just like with your mother. With Reyna. Beckendorf. Zoe-** _ "Stop," he gasped. Cassia looked down at him. Cassia, the hunter, the girl he was burning alive.

He quickly pushed himself onto his knees. She had to be alright. She needed to be. For his sake, she had to be.

"Are you alright?" he asked desperately. She stayed frozen, staring at him in shock, tears running down her face. He grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him. Her terrified eyes met his _._

 ** _Kill her. It would be so easy, Perseus. Let out your true nature._**

Percy screamed, drowning out the voice in his head, willing it to go away. He screamed so loud his throat became raw and tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes. He screamed until his thoughts went silent and all he could hear were his ragged gasps for air.

He felt someone shake his shoulders and he looked to the side, finding Cassia's scared face. "Moiraides! Moiraides, I'm fine. It doesn't-" she stumbled, "It doesn't hurt." She blinked at him as if she was baffled at that fact.

Percy let out a relieved breath as he looked at the hunter, letting his fingers run over her face, checking for any burns or injuries. Percy's shoulder slumped in relief. _She's fine. Perfectly fine. But why?_ Why wasn't she screaming in agony as the flames danced through her hair nor when they licked at her cheek. _Her cheek._

His eyes narrowed on the cut that was supposed to be on her cheek, the one he gave her with his knife. It was barely a scratch now and as the flames went across her skin, they washed away the blood that had been there. They glowed brightly when they touched what was left of the cut and left clear, unblemished skin in their place.

Cassia looked at him in shock and touched her fingers to her face. Wonder filled her eyes. _His silent fire healed._

Percy's thoughts were interrupted by a twang and instantly Percy ducked his head.

A cutting blow of air passed across his hair and an arrow sunk into the tree behind him. He scrambled to his knees and then to his feet and faced Artemis. She stood in the entrance of her tent, bow ready to fire again. Angry was too light of a word to describe her face. She was enraged, vehement, _livid._

"What the _fuck_ is going on?! I went to take a quick nap and I wake up to the camp on fire," she seethed and then gave him a lethal glare, "Care to explain, _Moiraides_?" The way she hissed his name made his spine want to leap out of his back and crawl into the underbrush. _Gods she was definitely going to kill him._

"Uh, well, I seem to have lit the camp on fire-"

"I can very well see that. Would you mind putting the damned thing out?" she said harshly, her voice disturbingly quiet. Percy winced and willed himself to calm down. He took several deep breaths and after a couple heartbeats, the flames had gone out.

"Good. Now clean up this mess," Artemis said as she motioned to the melted arrows in the ground. "Oh, and a month's worth of arrow sharpening duty for the both of you." Percy could hear the lilt smile in Artemis's voice. She was _enjoying_ this.

"What?! But it was _his_ fault, milady," Cassia sputtered, astonished at the punishment.

"So those aren't your melted arrows on the ground?" Artemis asked and Cassia looked at the ground in shame, "That's what I thought. If you two want to bicker like children, I will treat you like children."

"Yes, Lady Artemis," Cassia mumbled before she got on her knees and began to pick up the lumps of silver that used to be her arrows. Percy started to lean down to help her until a hand grabbed the neck of his shirt and dragged him away.

"Lady Artemis what are you-" Percy began until he saw the need to talk in Artemis's eyes. He then quickly clapped his mouth shut and follow her into her tent. She closed the flaps behind them, pushed him into a chair, and stood before him with her arms crossed.

"What the hell was that, Perseus?" she whispered angrily, "Do you think you can just waltz in here and _burn the entire fucking camp_ to the ground?"

"Of course not! I needed to talk to you. I haven't heard a word from you for weeks!" Percy whisper-screamed back at her.

"I was on a hunt, idiot," she said and a coolness started to pour into the back of his head, "I just got back this morning, hence the nap." _Oh Hades, not now._

He blinked and tried to keep his mind from scrambling. "What were you hunting?" he barely pushed out. Artemis gave him a funny look at his slurred speech, but continued.

"There's been an odd lack of monster attacks lately. I've been tracking them, seeing where they're going, what they're doing." The more she spoke, the farther Percy drifted away, her words getting quieter and quieter. It was like being swept away by the sea and he couldn't stop it.

Soon he couldn't hear her anymore, he only watched as her mouth moved. His head was ice, so cold it almost burned. A few seconds later he was gone.

 _He was standing in a forest and then by a clearing near the base of a large waterfall. He could see all kinds of monsters_ _everywhere. Empousai, drakons, the Chimera, telekhines, everything. It was a small army._

 _In the shade, he could see that under two very tall aspen trees, there was a black tent. He blinked and he was inside of it._

 _There_ _wasn't much in the tent. Only a desk, a chair, a bed, and a weapons rack full of dull and rusted swords. Percy mulled around the room, leafing through papers on the desk and twirling the old swords in his hands._

 _There was nothing interesting in the room. The papers were written in some code which made them completely useless to Percy. The only convenient document he found was a map of Maine._

 _While reading he heard the tent flaps rustle and quickly shoved the paper into his pocket. He looked for somewhere to hide, but the room was too open. He settled for standing in the corner. Hopefully in his vision he was invisible._

 _A man walked into the tent just as Percy got into place. Percy held his breath and let his eyes roam over the man. He was one of the strangest people Percy had ever seen._

 _He was built like a warrior. Thick muscles all across his body, legs as thick as tree trunks, and arms that could tear a man's head from his neck with one simple tug. The muscles weren't the strange thing about him though. The strange part was his skin._

 _Even though this man had the body of a young warrior, his skin was sallow, wrinkled, and covered in liver spots. The man's hair was even thinning on his head. His eyes were the worst. They were a gray as dull and old as the swords on his weapons rack and when they met his, Percy suddenly felt heavy._

 _It was like the man was drinking the life out of him, eating away at his energy. The tent flaps moved again and the man's eyes tore way from his. Percy let loose a gasp, glad to be free from his stare._

 _He watched as another figure walked into the room. It was a woman covered in blood. It coated her skin like warpaint and he could even see the shapes of red hand prints on her torn dress._

 _Percy guessed that it used to be white, but now it was covered in dirt and dried blood, making her look corpse-like. Even her hair was a mess of broken arrows and twigs. As she walked closer, Percy noticed that some of the red marks on her skin weren't bloodstains, but scars and bruises._

 _There were long scars that ran up her wrists and across her neck along with purple and blue bruises that circle her arms and throat like jewelry. None of them looked clean or quick. They were all a mess, jagged and sloppy._

 _She looked like she had died a thousand times, but never stayed that way for long. She terrified him. The way she moved promised that she could give a long, agonizing death and Percy wanted to be far far away from that._

 _But he need to know a few things first: who they were, what they wanted, and if they were enemies. Percy closed his eyes and n_ _ames swirled around in his head as he tried to think of who they were. An old/young man and a lady who looked like death._

 _All at once two names hit him, bouncing around in his skull. **Geras. Kere** **s.** He had no idea who those gods where, but at least now he had names. He smiled and opened his eyes. His smile quickly faded._

 _Both of the gods were now in front of him and staring directly at him like they could see him. Keres grabbed the broken and bloodstained sword that was at her hip and held it at his throat. Oh they definitely could see him._

 _He needed to out. Now. He blinked his eyes hoping he would be taken somewhere else, but nothing worked. Geras smirked and grabbed a sword from him rack. He swung it around, testing its balance. Then faster than Percy's eyes could follow, the sword was in his chest._

 _He felt the energy get sucked from his muscles and veins, making him slump down. He looked down at his skin to see that it had become just like Geras's, old and wrinkled._

 _Percy could feel the life being pulled out of him. He felt his lungs start to fail and his heart beat faster in a frail attempt to keep himself alive. He was dying and not from the wound the sword gave him, but the sword itself._

 _He looked back up and saw Keres grinning wickedly. She ran her hands through his hair and then tugged his head up, exposing his neck. She let her blade run along the sensitive skin of his neck and drew a crooked, bloody line._

 _Percy could see that her eyes screamed for blood and he opened his mouth to tell her to stop, to let him go, but he couldn't breathe anymore. He was suffocating. His mouth gaped open like a fish, trying to suck in even the smallest bit of air._

 _He could feel Keres push the blade harder against his neck. "Let me put you out of your misery, demigod," she hissed._

 _And then before he could blink again, she slashed her sword across his neck. He was thrown into darkness._

 _He fell and fell until he started to hear a voice. The more he listened, the clearer it got. "So I followed it to Maine and it lead to this waterfall. That's where I found all the monsters."_

 _He started to see more than just darkness. There were smudges of silver and brown. And then fuzzy images came to his head. A desk, a bed, a woman._

 _"It's a small army and they're all gathering there for something. I didn't see any signs of their leaders."_

His vision became completely clear. He sucked in a breath of air as he remembered where he was and why he was there.

"I have a hunch though. I think it's-"

"Geras and Keres," he confirmed as he looked up and locked their eyes together. Artemis's face scrunched up in confusion.

"How did you know?" she asked suspiciously. Percy glanced away, now wasn't the time to tell her about his visions.

"That doesn't matter. All I know is that they're coming and that we'd better be prepared."

* * *

 **So there you go. Hope you liked it! The gods if you want to look them up are Geras and Keres (technically it's _the_ Keres because its a group of spirits, but writing about a bunch of extra people would be ****confusing).**

 **Don't forget to review and give some feedback!**


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